Holger Rune kicked off his 2024 grass campaign with a shaky performance at the 2024 Cinch Championships, losing to Jordan Thompson.
The young Dane once again returned to London to play at the Cinch Championships after a solid run last year. The hope was to start off the grass season with a few wins, as it's a surface that can work really well for Rune, even though he needs more experience on it.
Last year was a good start to becoming a good player on grass, but this time around, it didn't work out that well. He played a very solid player in Thompson and faced little issues at the start but plenty as the match went on.
The first game of the match was the hardest for him in the opening set because he fell down 0-30 before winning a few points and putting himself into a solid rhythm.
He didn't face too many problems on his serve after that, winning games relatively comfortably with a break late to win the set 6-4. Rune was the more aggressive player and, for the most part, hit the ball really well.
He was a bit more precise than Thompson, so he won the set, as the Australian wasn't bad by any means. The second set opened comfortably for both as neither had any chances early.
The set was decided in a tie-break, in which Thompson played a bit sharper. Rune was starting to miss a bit and missed a few easy shots in the tie-break to lose it 4-7 and send the match into a decider.
It was a horror start for him in the decider, as his shaky play persisted in that set. He lost his serve early to fall behind 0-3 overall; it was just very poor play. It was as if Rune was completely shocked and couldn't find a response.
Thompson, on the other hand, remained calm as he so often tends to do and kept the lead. He finished it off without any problems, winning the match 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3.
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