Perfect Start: Holger Rune Triumphs on the Court Where His Injury Nightmare Began

There has been a lot of trepidation in the tennis world about how Holger Rune will successfully return from the horrific achilles injury he sustained this time last year. The trepidation was probably even larger for Rune in terms of psychologically and physically getting his body ready to be able to play at a high level after close to a year away from the sport. For many, an impossible task. For Rune, it is 'challenge accepted' with a great amount of determination. That goes without saying with him.

The great Dane won the opening round of the very tournament in which he experienced that injury in the semi-final last year. I will talk through how Rune looked and the pivotal moments of his 6-3, 6-4 win versus the rising Zizou Bergs.

Rune looked extremely rusty in the first game of the match and it was quite a scrappy start from the Dane throughout the first few games. He misses an uncharacteristic backhand long of the baseline here to draw up the first of four break points in this game for his opponent. Rune comes out of this game unscathed and this was already a sliding doors moment for this matchup.

Rune's level seemed in a great place

Even in phases of the opening set, Rune was striking the ball with a lot of authority and confidence. His forehand utilisation was one of the best aspects of his performance. The Dane was doing what he does best in terms of spreading the forehand around the court, while deliberately and stubbornly trying to hold the baseline. Taking away Bergs' recovery time in rally was essential due to Bergs being an explosive and high-octane type of player that is dangerous in these conditions.

Rune began turning the screw later into the set. The Dane was definitely guilty of not always finding rhythm on his first serve, but he was returning unbelievably at times in this contest.

There was a competitive fight for control of the baseline in this first round, but the Belgian was way more tense and nervy eventually. Rune breaks in the eighth game of the set through sensational returning and figuring out that isolating the Bergs backhand enough would test the Belgian's confidence levels even more. The first set was then secured by the Dane. 6-3 Rune...

Rune's serving difficulties were still present in the second set but went unpunished

The most pivotal moment of the second set came at *2-3 down and the Dane is facing another break point. During this phase, he is giving Bergs a lot of second serve looks, but it goes unpunished yet again. The Rune Revival took shape thereafter, though. Three big first serves and he had escaped a mini crisis. Then Rune starts spreading his wings through the same tactical intentions that secured him the first set. Easier said than done as Bergs had a strong serving day despite the straight sets defeat.

Rune breaks for a 2nd time before taking the win in straight sets

Rune plays one of his best receiving points in the video below to get break point. Many people would likely go to Bergs' backhand just because it is a safer zone to go into. For Rune, it was more about recognising that Bergs was not totally at his most secure and consistent from the back in the lead-up to this. Bergs' achilles heel is generally a lack of trust in his backhand the longer a point develops. It was no different here.

Bergs is concerned about the gradual duress the Dane is putting him under here. Subsequently, Bergs wants out of that trade fast and goes for a high-risk backhand that usually he does not have in him to produce anyway. Bails out with a backhand down the line out of pure panic, while not being best-placed in the court to execute. This is the beginning of the end for him before being broken and going on to lose in straight sets.

Rune would eventually book his place into the Stockholm second round quite comfortably and hopefully he is on his way to making up for some lost time. He burst onto the scene as the best junior in the world and solidified his place amongst the best on the main tour at a young age. Some people may assume that Rune has that fire to only get back to where he was before the injury. When in reality, Rune's drive will probably push him to want to achieve even more.