Red-Hot Rune Saves 3 MPs To Stun Stan

Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour

In a memorable tournament debut, Holger Rune saved three match points — two in the second set and another in the third — in a comeback win against Stan Wawrinka to close Tuesday's play at the Rolex Paris Masters. In a two-hour, 30-minute contest that finished after midnight on Court 1, the Dane battled back for a 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) victory to continue his blistering form on the ATP Tour.

A finalist in three of his past four events, including a title run in Stockholm, Rune has now won 14 of his past 16 matches. It's a stretch that earned him his debut in the Top 20 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, as he began this week as the World No. 18.

Rune lost the opening set against Wawrinka on a late break, and the Swiss again threatened a decisive closing blow at 5-4 in the second. But Rune saved two match points to start a run of three straight games and force a decider. There was just one break point on offer in the final set, and it doubled as a match point with Rune serving to stay alive at 5-6.

The 19-year-old stood firm to hold and won his final eight service points as he ran away with the tie-break. Through to the second round, he will face 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz on Wednesday. The Pole was a 7-6(5), 6-4 winner against French wild card Adrian Mannarino earlier on Tuesday.

Rune will conclude his breakout season next week at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan.

FOLLOW THIS WEEK'S ACTION

📺 TV Schedule
🎾 Watch Live On Tennis TV
📱 Follow Live Scores On ATP WTA Live
📧 Sign Up For Newsletters

With the defeat, Wawrinka's 2022 ATP Tour season came to a heartbreaking close one week after a quarter-final run in Basel. The Swiss recorded an 8-14 tour-level record on the year but will be encouraged by his recent play after working his way back from left-foot surgery in 2021.