Great Dane Rune mauls qualifier Olivieri en route to 4th round

Great Dane Rune mauls qualifier Olivieri en route to 4th round

Holger Rune beat his opponent to secure a spot in the French Open's last 16.

Holger Rune celebrates winning his third round match of the French Open against Genaro Alberto Olivieri. (AP pic)
PARIS:
Holger Rune took a step close to becoming Denmark’s first male Grand Slam singles champion when he powered past Argentine qualifier Genaro Alberto Olivieri 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 today to reach the French Open fourth round.

The gap in quality between sixth seed Rune and his opponent, ranked 231st in the world, was quickly evident with the Argentine completely overwhelmed by the Dane’s aggressive game at the start.

Olivieri’s weak second serves, which regularly dipped below 150kph, made him even more vulnerable to Rune’s attacks in windy conditions on Philippe Chatrier court.

He broke Olivieri early and followed up with another break after the Argentine had briefly battled back to clinch the first set 6-4.

The 20-year-old, bidding to join former world number one Caroline Wozniacki as Denmark’s only singles Grand Slam winners, cruised through the second set in 35 minutes, sealing it with another booming crosscourt forehand.

A quarterfinalist last year in his maiden appearance at Roland Garros, Rune secured his last 16 spot on his fourth match point.

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