Holger Rune might not have played super strong tennis lately, but the Dane played a great match to beat Matteo Berrettini in the first round of the 2024 Cincinnati Open.
This matchup was the best of the opening-round matches at the Cincinnati Open. Two players who were Top-10 regulars for much of their careers clashed in the first round of an ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
While their current rankings are not like that, the talent never went away. They are some of the best players on Tour, and having them face each other in the first round is great for the fans.
Berrettini was the nominal favorite in this match, largely because he played superb tennis the last time he appeared on the courts. However, that was on clay and in high-altitude conditions, where he's always performed great.
Cincinnati is not like that, even though the courts are fast hard courts, at least by today's standards. Rune has been playing shaky tennis for a long time now. His performances have been up and down but mostly far from what he can do on the court.
His split with Patrick Mouratoglou only proved that something was happening in his team, causing even more frustration. Even so, he had his chances in this matchup, and he used them.
The Italian has a monster forehand, but his backhand is inconsistent. In that sense, Rune has better shots overall, which would be an advantage for him if he could handle the serve in this matchup.
The serve was crucial for Berrettini because it's incredibly massive and creates so much pressure. That's exactly what he did in that opening set, dropping only a handful of points behind his serve and never facing a break point.
On return, Berretitni could attack the Dane's second serve and create a break chance, which he could convert and add another one to win the first set 6-2. The same approach didn't work in the second set because Rune came out angry and with a purpose.
He completely crushed Berrettini in that one, and it came from him simply doing a better job with the serve. He returned better, the Italian missed more and quickly, it was 6-1 for Rune.
It was a huge momentum-shifting set, which spilled over into the final set because Rune also took an early break in the decider. He did a much better job reading Berrettini's serve, and the Italian wasn't hitting his spots as he was in the opening set.
When it came to the rallies, Rune proved to be the more talented natural hitter, outhitting Berrettini in both the second and final sets. Berrettini solidified after a rough start in the final set, but it wasn't enough.
The damage was done, and it was too late to turn around the match completely. Ruen won the match 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 for Rune, outhitting Berrettini in the rallies, totaling 15 winners compared to 12 from Berrettini.
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