ATP

Rune hoping Hamburg run can atone for Wimbledon woe

By Sports Desk July 18, 2024

Holger Rune advanced to the Hamburg Open quarter-finals on Thursday as he looks to move on swiftly from his Wimbledon disappointment.

Rune's All England Club campaign was ruthlessly ended by Novak Djokovic in the fourth round, beaten in straight sets by the eventual finalist.

The Dane gave himself little time to lick his wounds and has quickly returned to the court and returned to form with his debut in Hamburg.

Looking for his first ATP Tour title of the year, the second seed followed up a straight-sets win over Fabian Marozsan by defeating Marco Trungelliti 6-4 6-3.

"It's been very intense since Wimbledon," Rune said. "I only had one day off, actually.

"I was like, 'I don’t want to rest, I want to go straight back to practice', because I was very disappointed.

"I went straight back to work on the things that needed to be done, and now I have the chance to train those things in matches."

Next up will be Arthur Fils, who booked his last-eight place by beating 2023 Hamburg finalist Laslo Djere 7-6 (7-3) 6-2.

Top seed Alexander Zverev remains a threat in the top half of the draw, however, and he will face Zhang Zhizhen in the quarters.

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    Zverev dominated on serve during the opening set, dropping just three points, while a break in game five paved the way for him to move halfway towards victory.

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    The German demonstrated his desire to maintain his hold on the trophy he won in front of his home crowd last season, and become only the third player this century to successfully defend the crown after Roger Federer and Nikoloz Basilashvili.

    Indeed, Zverev hit 10 aces and won 29 of 33 points on first serve (88%), while converting three of his four break-point opportunities.

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