Madrid (Spain) – One of the most highly rated names to go far in the Masters 1000 in Madrid, the Danish Holger Rune did not make it past the third round. This Sunday, he was surprised by the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor, who got the better of the 11th seed in three sets, scoring partials of 6/4, 4/6 and 6/3 after 2h14 of play.
Currently 25th in the world, the 27-year-old Dutchman remains undefeated against Rune, beating the Dane both times they have met so far. After winning a top 20 ranking for the first time on clay, Griekspoor is now waiting for the winner of the clash between Russian Andrey Rublev and home tennis player Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Eliminated on debut last year, in his first participation in the tournament, Griekspoor showed great consistency on serve, winning 74% of the points against Rune’s 61% and only had more work to do because he converted just two of the 12 break-points he had in his favor , while the Dane took advantage of one of the three chances he had.
Struff wins and gets in the way of Alcaraz or Wild
Current runner-up on clay in Madrid, German Jan-Lennard Struff continues to advance in the competition and secured himself in the round of 16, beating Frenchman Ugo Humbert in straight sets, with splits of 7/5 and 6/4. He could have a repeat of last year’s final in the next phase against Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, or he could face Thiago Wild from Paraná.
With the campaign so far in Caixa Mágica, the German is provisionally losing 16 places in the ranking, and could reduce the loss if he wins one more. Currently 24th in the world, he got important points to avoid sinking in the rankings last week by winning his first ATP title, on clay in Munich.
