By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday October 26, 2023
Holger Rune has won back-to-back matches for the first time since Wimbledon and is now in the Basel quarterfinals.
Photo Source: TTV
In his first tournament with Boris Becker by his side, Holger Rune has started to regain his form.
The Dane reached the quarterfinals on Thursday with a 7-6(2), 6-1 win over Sebastian Baez at the Swiss Indoors Basel, and now seems far removed from the form that had seen him drop eight of nine contests dating back to his quarterfinal loss to Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon.
Rune, who rallied past Miomir Kecmanovic from a set and break down in his first match at Basel, pushed past the 29th-ranked Argentine in convincing fashion to notch his career-best 40th win of the 2023 season.
He hit 22 winners against 14 unforced errors and saved the only break point he faced to improve to 2-1 against Baez in their first hard court meeting.
“I love the conditions and it’s great to have Boris on the side, giving me advice,” Rune said, adding: “I was serving extremely well today – it’s no secret where that might come from.”
The Dane will face Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the last eight, as he bolsters his bid to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.
With Taylor Fritz and Casper Ruud both falling in round of 16 action on Thursday, Rune increased his gap over the No.9 and No.11 players in the race.
Fritz went 0 for 15 on break point opportunities and missed on two match points as he lost a heartbreaker to qualifier Alexander Shevchenko, 6-7(7), 7-6(6), 7-6(5), while Ruud went down in similar fashion, falling to local favorite Dominic Stricker 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(1).
Tommy Paul and Alex de Minaur, No.12 and No.13 in the Race, also lost on Thursday. No.10 in the Race, Hubert Hurkacz, will face Tallon Griekspoor in the quarterfinals on Thursday in Basel.
Hurkacz is currently 335 points behind Rune.