ATP Masters Madrid: Rune fights against Bublik
In a true thriller, Holger Rune (ATP No. 79 in his opening match defeated Alexander Bublik (ATP No. 55) 6:1, 4:6, 7:6 after just over two hours.
by Dietmar Kaspar
last edit:
Apr 28, 2023, 10:18 pm

One could be curious about the physical condition of the Dane Holger Rune after defending his title at the ATP tournament in Munich. In a dramatic new edition of last year's final against the Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, the 19-year-old, visibly battered after defending four match points, fought his way back to victory. Today's opponent Alexander Bublik from Kazakhstan does not exactly have a preference for the red ashes, but last year he was able to win the only duel between the two protagonists on the indoor hard court in Metz.
Rune started the game furiously with his powerful baseline game and twice took the service from his opponent in the opening set without allowing a break chance of his own. The tide turned at the beginning of the second act, as Bublik increasingly gained the upper hand with his risky offensive game. In the third game, the 25-year-old used his first break chance and confidently served the equalizer without break opportunities on both sides. A real thriller should develop in the third movement. Both players held their service games with no break opportunities for the opponent, so the decision had to be made in the tie-break. After Bublik was able to fend off a total of four match points after the score was 4: 6, the Kazakh, after missing his own chance with a double fault, gave his opponent the fifth chance to win the match, the Rune on his own serve to 6: 1, 4: 6, 7: 6 (9) victory after almost 2:04 hours of play.
In the third round, Rune meets Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who won the Spanish duel against Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6:3, 6:4.
Hurkacz fights his way through
Hubert Hurkacz, who was in No. 12, made it through to the next round with a real energetic performance. After losing the first round against the French veteran Richard Gasquet, the 26-year-old Pole turned the game around and triumphed 6:7, 6:4, 7:5 after 2:24 hours of play.