This marks Rune’s first individual victory since his return to the tennis court. He won two matches during Denmark’s Davis Cup victory over Bulgaria, but in his individual appearances on the ATP Tour, he was eliminated in the opening round in both Tokyo and Shanghai.
In a marathon match lasting more than two and a half hours, Rune demonstrated that his form is solid and that his game is heading in the right direction.
The Dane—who, for once, played without his signature backwards-facing cap—needed some time to find his footing at St. Jakobshalle against an opponent who served powerfully from the start.
However, despite occasionally struggling to land his first serve, he compensated by moving better and faster than Halys. At 3-3, he earned his first break point, forcing the Frenchman to hit a volley wide of the court.
After both players held serve once more, Rune managed—with some difficulty—to secure the first set 6-4. The closely contested battle continued into the second set. Rune found few answers when Halys was serving, but displayed similar authority whenever he himself initiated the rallies.
Neither player managed to create a break point, and they stayed neck and neck until 6-6, forcing a tiebreak to decide the set where Halys’s powerful first serve proved decisive as the Frenchman won the tiebreak 7-2 to take the set.
Halys continued undeterred in the final set, bombarding his Danish opponent and delivering 32 aces over the course of the match. Only in a single game did he waver, handing Rune two break points, but he managed to fight his way out of trouble.
Rune struggled to keep up and had to pull a couple of spectacular winners out of his hat when Halys once again threatened to break his serve at 3–3. It turned into a grueling war of attrition, and Rune had to do some stretching exercises to keep his legs moving during the changeover.
Once again, both players held serve until 6–6, meaning the outcome would be decided by yet another tiebreak. A double fault by the Frenchman at 5–5 gave Holger Rune a match point, which he converted with a perfectly timed drop shot.