Holger Rune Beats Casper Ruud In Red Bull Bassline Final Ahead Of Australian Open
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Holger Rune ended his 2025 Australian Open preparations with a win at the Red Bull Bassline event.
After Jannik Sinner won the first exhibition charity match over Alexei Popyrin to start the AO Opening Week, the Red Bull Bassline event took place during the evening.
The Red Bull Bassline event is a special exhibition tournament, often held prior to the start of the main draw action of some of the biggest tournaments in the world, and in 2025, it made its debut in Melbourne.
The event prides itself in a unique format. There are no umpires or line judges, with players calling the lines and loud music playing throughout the tournament. In Melbourne, the matches were played in the best-of-three first-to-five points tie-break sets.
Players were divided into two groups in the round-robin stage. In the red group, Casper Ruud, Matteo Berrettini, and Kei Nishikori battled it out for one final spot, while in the blue group, Holger Rune, Alexei Popyrin, and Fabian Marozsan played for the one final spot.
All of the players were introduced by former WTA player Barbara Schett and wheelchair tennis legend Dylan Alcott and welcomed by an excited crowd in Melbourne.
In the first match of the red group, Nishikori bested Berrettini 5-3, 5-4. The blue group followed, with Marozsan beating Popyrin 5-2, 5-3.
In the second match in the red group, Berrettini had a match point against Ruud in the second set, but the Norwegian player saved it to win in three sets 3-5, 5-4, 5-2, eliminating Berrettini from the competition.
Rune also introduced himself with a win, eliminating Popyrin, who recorded his second loss at the event. The young Dane bested the home player 5-3, 5-2 in the second match in the blue group.
Ruud and Nishikori battled it out for the final spot in the red group. The Norwegian player controlled the proceedings from start to finish of the match, beating Nishikori 5-2, 5-3 to secure the final at the event.
In the last match in the blue group, Rune won the first set 5-3 before Marozsan didn't allow him to win a single point in the second set, winning it 5-0.
Berrettini, who interviewed the first finalist Ruud during this match, then almost jinxed Rune's lead, as the Danish player was up 4-1 with Marozsan serving when the Italian player said: "It looks like you're playing Holger."
However, Rune then lost three consecutive points, with one last rally deciding the second finalist at 4-4. The Dane was eventually able to win the match 5-3, 0-5, 5-4, securing the final against Ruud.
Coincidentally, two players who met also during the off-season met also in the final of this event. Rune beat Ruud in the Nordic Battle during the off-season, and now, he was the better player again.
Rune won the first set 5-1, but his Norwegian opponent proved to be better in the second set, winning it 5-1. Eventually, the Dane proved to be better in the third set, winning it 5-1 again to win the match 5-1, 1-5, 5-1, securing the 2025 Red Bull Bassline title in Melbourne.
