French Open: Rune beats Tsitsipas to make Danish tennis history

By Sports Desk May 30, 2022

Stefanos Tsitsipas is out of the French Open after being beaten by Danish teenager Holger Rune in the fourth round on Monday.

Tsitsipas earned an early break, but things soon started to unravel as he lost the first set.

The Greek number four seed came back to even things up in the second, but had no answer for Rune's power and precision as his opponent won in four sets, 7-5 3-6 6-3 6-4.

Rune - earning just his second ever win over a top five opponent - is the first Danish men's player to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam in the Open Era.

The contest lasted just over three hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier, and Rune thanked the crowd for the part they played.

"I have an unbelievable feeling right now," the 19-year-old said in his on-court interview. "I was so nervous at the end but the crowd was amazing for me the whole match, the whole tournament.

"I am so grateful and so happy to be playing on this court. You guys are amazing.

"I was very nervous but I know at the same time that if I go away from my tactics against a player like Tsitsipas I am going to lose for sure.

"I told myself just to keep at it and play my plan in the tough moments. It worked out so well in the end and gave me a huge confidence boost. It is just so great to still be here."

Rune will play Norwegian Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals after the number eight seed beat 12th seed Hubert Hurkacz earlier on Monday.

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