SHANGHAI — A long wait for his opening match at the Shanghai Masters proved to be worth it for Holger Rune.
The Dane delivered a resilient performance to down Matteo Berrettini 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a high-quality encounter at the ATP Masters 1000. After Rune received a bye in the opening round, his second-round clash with Berrettini was originally scheduled for Saturday.
Although persistent rain ultimately kept the players waiting two days longer, they did not disappoint when they finally stepped onto Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena.
Rune withstood 16 aces from Berrettini, according to Infosys ATP Stats, en route to a comeback victory featuring plenty of cat-and-mouse exchanges.
The 12th seed stayed patient on return to notch late breaks of serve in both the second and third sets and claim his maiden Shanghai win at the second attempt.
“I think [the match] was pretty good,” Rune said according to atptour.com.
“It felt like he didn’t do many things wrong in the first set. I made a few errors, but then he was just on me.
“He didn’t allow me to make many mistakes. I think the same happened in the second and third sets, just the other way around. Every time he got slightly central or short, I was there to punish his shots.
“It was a good match, honestly. I think the tennis was very high quality. We were hitting a lot of winners, good serves, good movement, so I’m very happy to start my tournament like this.”
Now 13-7 at Masters 1000 events in 2024, Rune will meet 33rd seed Jiri Lehecka for a spot in the fourth round in Shanghai.
The 21-year-old seeks a deep run this week to help kick-start a late charge towards Nitto ATP Finals qualification: Rune is up one spot to 15th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin after defeating Berrettini, and he could rise as high as eighth by lifting the title in China.
“I think I’ve been consistent in many tournaments, but haven’t really gone all the way,” said Rune, whose best result this year was a final run in Brisbane.
“It’s just a process. Keep working; keep trying to do the right things. From my side there was a big change from the first set to the last two sets.
“I was hitting the ball better. I was moving more up to the ball, playing more on my terms, aggressively coming forward.
“I’m happy with the way I started this tournament. I think that’s the way for me to play and I’m going to keep going like this.”
Fritz stuns Atmane
It may have taken 48 hours, but Taylor Fritz ensured his big plans for the final stretch of the 2024 season remain on course with a hard-earned opening victory at the Shanghai Masters.
The American kept his cool in the face of a free-spirited performance from Terence Atmane to secure a 7-6(4), 7-6(5) triumph at the Chinese ATP Masters 1000. After rain forced the second-round clash to be suspended with Fritz leading 4-3 on serve, the seventh seed completed a two-hour, three-minute victory under the roof inside Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena.
The US Open finalist Fritz remains fifth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and is in a strong position to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, where he made his debut in 2022.
Yet the American was determined to take things one step at a time after passing a tough test from Atmane in the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash.
“I don’t want to speak too soon, but I think I’m in a good position,” said Fritz.
“I’m not thinking so much about the goal of reaching the finals right now, because I’m fifth in the Race. If the goal is that and I get panicky, it would be like,
“My goal right now is to finish the year in the Top 5, keep my place. I think that’s just a better mindset to have, both to qualify for the finals and play good tennis for the rest of the year.”
Against Atmane, Fritz crucially saved the only two break points of the opening set from 15/40 in the ninth game, and after clinching the first-set tie-break he established a 4-2 lead in the second set. The Frenchman continued to push Fritz, but the American again found something extra late on to clinch the second set in a tie-break.
“I think his ability to basically hit a winner from anywhere on the court made it very tough,” said Fritz.
“Because sometimes I almost felt like if I wanted to be the aggressor in the rally, I had to go on when I maybe didn’t want to go on. Then sometimes I had to take just a more defensive, solid approach to the points, let him pull the trigger and if he makes it, he makes it.
“That uncertainty of, ‘What if he does make it?’ is always uncomfortable. He was playing really well, serving well on big points, so it’s great to get through that in two sets.”
Another Top 10 star and Turin hopeful, Grigor Dimitrov, also completed victory Monday in a rain-affected second-round clash.
The Bulgarian led Zizou Bergs 6-3, 2-4 when their meeting was suspended Saturday, and upon resumption he battled to a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 triumph.
