Holger Rune returned to the tennis courts and started well by beating Roman Safiullin in three sets at the 2024 Rotterdam Open.
This was a really interesting challenge for the young Dane, who has dealt with some health issues in recent weeks. First, he retired in Montpellier due to a hand injury, only to return a few days later at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown in Oslo.
He also withdrew from that competition after feeling under the weather for a few days but returned to the courts in Rotterdam against Safiullin. There was a lot of uncertainty about Rune and his level ahead of this match, but he solidly answered some questions.
Safiullin is a good indoor player with good serve and really solid baseline play. He showed that in this match but overwhelmingly couldn't match Rune, who was pretty great at times.
The opening set was very close, but the 20-year-old was clearly better. He wasted multiple break chances before finally converting one and winning the set.
The second set wasn't very good for Rune because he served worse and that opened a lot more chances for the Russian. He would finally get break point chances and convert them to jump ahead.
From there, he was able to cruise without giving his opponent any break chances. It was expected that the final set would be very close between two players on a similar level, but it really wasn't because Rune outplayed Safiullin by a lot.
The Russian didn't serve all that well, but Rune was just too good, totaling 13 winners in only seven games. He was just too good, and that should be exciting for fans who want to see him return to his best.
The conditions in Rotterdam also greatly benefited his style, and he showed that. The final score was 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 for Rune, who totaled 28 winners and only eight unforced errors.
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