ATP Masters Madrid: Rune loses stop festival at witching hour
Holger Rune was eliminated in a spectacular match at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid. Rune was defeated late at night by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6:7 (1), 7:5 and 6:7 (5).
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
May 01, 2023, 01:13 am
The inclined tennis lover can probably imagine Alejandro Davidovich Fokina's training like this: Yes, the basic strokes also come into their own. But most of the time is probably spent on two things: the short game and the stops. And the footwork with which the Spaniard gets the drop shots of his respective opponents.
In this respect, Holger Rune was actually not well advised to try the short balls again and again late on Sunday night. Because mostly "ADF" was there in time. And the local hero often had the right answer ready. If in doubt, with a counter stop. Which the audience also celebrated accordingly.
But not only that. Because Holger Rune had to play a real away game, quite comparable to the one against Jannik Sinner in the semifinals of Monte Carlo.
Alcaraz beats Dimitrov in the first match
Chair umpire Carlos Bernardes had his hands full keeping the fans in check. Interjections, which particularly irritated Rune during his serve movement, were not uncommon. It is all the more remarkable that the Dane kept his nerve when in the second set there were only two points that separated Davidovich Fokina from qualifying for the round of 16.
By then, the midnight mark had already been reached. Which again raises the question of whether the organizers weren't a little too optimistic to start the night session at 8 p.m. Carlos Alcaraz did his job against Grigor Dimitrov in a reasonably short time. Hopefully nobody was surprised that it could take longer for Rune against Davidovich Fokina due to the athletic strength of the two.
At Rune, the tank is empty
After equalizing the set, Rune immediately started the break, Davidovich Fokina countered immediately. In front of the sparsely occupied grandstands - the witching hour was probably no longer safe for the people of Madrilene. What have those who left earlier missed? A Holger Rune where the tank was empty. Who wanted to keep the rallies as short as possible. And who had to give up his serve in the eighth game. That's it? But no. Rune managed another rebreak and equalized to make it 5:5.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina seemed to have lost momentum but after 0:30 he won four spectacular points in a row. At almost exactly one o'clock the final tie-break was started. And then Davidovich Fokina prevailed 7:5. After 3:05 hours of playtime. And because Holger Rune couldn't play away a weak stop by the Spaniard.
Here is the individual tableau in Madrid
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