At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Monday, Holger Rune was competing against Lorenzo Musetti.
Even though Holger Rune is just one match into his BNP Paribas Open campaign, he has already surpassed all previous records in this year’s ATP Masters 1000 competition.
The seventh-seeded Dane advanced to the fourth round of Indian Wells for the first time on Monday afternoon, defeating Lorenzo Musetti 6-2, 7-6(5), thanks to a quick start. Despite Musetti’s spirited second-set comeback, Rune held strong to complete a 96-minute victory in which he won 82% (31/38) of the points after serving first, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
Since his first opponent, Milos Raonic, was forced to withdraw from their second-round match, Rune was making his first appearance of the tournament in Tennis Paradise. In his match against Musetti in southern California, Rune, ranked seventh in the PIF Rankings, quickly adapted to the desert conditions and quickly won the first set with plenty of aggressive baseline hitting off both wings.
Rune remarked, “I felt terrific,” in the post-match interview. The wait was finally over. I couldn’t wait to play. When I learned on Saturday that it was a walkover, I naturally wished [Raonic] the best. It’s the way it is, even though I truly wanted to play. I’m glad I had two extra practice days since I was able to show up there today in good shape.
After defeating Novak Djokovic at Monte-Carlo eleven months prior, Musetti was looking for his first win against a Top 10 opponent, and the Italian upped his game to make the second set a more competitive match. When Rune scored a straightforward smash at 4/4 in the tie-break, it seemed as though he misspoke, but the Dane recovered to win the following three points with ease.
I’m attempting to convert the greatest number of break points. When asked what he wanted to work on more in the second set, Rune—who gave up three break points from 0/40 in the opening game—said, “I was a little disappointed in the start of the second set.” “I have to learn from my mistakes, even if I felt like I could have performed better on a handful of them.
Taking risks is part of playing tennis. Most of the time, whether you take them or not will determine the outcome of the match, so I’m glad I was able to remain calm and play well through the tie-break.
With a 2-0 lead over Musetti in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, Rune will now get ready for a last-16 matchup against either the 2022 champion Taylor Fritz or the highly effective Sebastian Baez.
Gael Monfils was another early third-round winner on Monday. The Frenchman defeated 28th seed Cameron Norrie 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-3 to follow up his stunning victory over Hurkacz in the second round.
During most of the first set, Monfils was disadvantaged as Norrie created an incredible 20 break points, just two of which were converted. The 37-year-old Monfils persisted with him and was rewarded with a spectacular three-hour, 12-minute victory, even though the Briton went on to win it in a tie-break.
In a generally entertaining performance, Monfils’s style of winning the second set was one of the highlights. He outlasted Norrie in an exciting encounter that had the Stadium 3 audience standing. He did this by showcasing his superior defensive abilities.
