Zverev digs deep to win another Roland-Garros five-setter, this time over Rune in round of 16

Alexander Zverev won a second consecutive match in five sets, beating Holger Rune to reach the Roland-Garros quarter-finals on Monday. He will face Alex de Minaur.

Action Plus / Panoramic

Ricky Dimon

June 4, 2024

Roland Garros •Round of 16 • completed

See draw

A. ZverevvsH. Rune

Alexander Zverev outlasted Holger Rune 4-6, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-2 in the round of 16 at Roland-Garros on Monday night. It was a four-hour and 11-minute thriller that ended after 1:30 in the morning.

Zverev will battle Australian Alex De Minaur in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

The German appeared to be on the brink of defeat after he failed to close out the fourth set from a break up, dropping serve at 5-4. However, Zverev did well to force a tiebreak with a routine hold at 5-6 and from there he maintained momentum.

After dominating the ‘breaker seven points to two, Zverev did not look back in the fifth. The world No 4 missed out on four break chances at 1-0, but he would soon seize a critical scalp of the Rune serve at 2-1. Zverev consolidate his advantage en route to a 5-2 lead and then wrapped it up in style with another service break.

[Rune] played unbelievable tennis this week. I’m lucky to have won.
Alexander Zverev

“What a match,” the fourth seed said during his on-court interview. “Holger is an amazing player, young talent. You’re going to see him for 15 years, maybe 20, on this beautiful court. Credit to him. He’s had a few difficulties this year, but he played unbelievable tennis this week. I’m lucky to have won.”

To say that it has been an eventful tournament for Zverev would be an understatement. Earlier in the fortnight he defeated Rafael Nadal (6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3), Belgian David Goffin (7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-2) and Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor, the No 26 seed (3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (3)).

Rune’s trek to the fourth round featured victories over Daniel Evans (6-4, 6-4, 6-4), Italian Flavio Cobolli (6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7)) and Slovak lucky loser Jozef Kovalik (7-5, 6-1, 7-6 (2)).

“(I took) good steps, for sure (in Paris),” the Dane commented. “I was three points from winning. We had some long rallies; he was a bit more solid in those points…. It was great, the atmosphere was really cool — as always in Paris, I think the fans are great and showing a lot of support.

“I try to get over it as fast as possible. If you let it sit, you let it sit — and it can hurt you more than be good to you…. I’m going to take my time to recover and then get back to work. It’s no secret that the grass season is around the corner.”