Holger Rune says he is relishing his position as the top player at this week’s Brisbane International after coming through a tough opening match.
The Danish world No.8 had to fight his way back from a set down to beat Australia’s Max Purcell 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Rune was broken twice during the opener before regaining his momentum on the court to dictate play. Hitting a total of 31 winners against 15 unforced errors. During the second and third sets, he won 34 out of 40 points behind his first serve.
“It was difficult in the beginning, I had to find my rhythm,” Rune said afterwards.
“But I thought once I found it, especially on the serve, I managed to get a lot of free points. That helped me get into the match and I kept fighting to find solutions.”
This week is only the fifth time in Rune’s career that he has been the top seed at an ATP event. Being the headline act usually creates extra pressure for a player but he sees it from a different perspective.
“It’s a big privilege to be the first seed here, surrounded by many good players,” he commented.
There was no New Year’s joy for third seed Ben Shelton who was projected to play Rune in the semi-finals of the tournament if they both reached that stage. The American suffered a surprise 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, loss to Russia’s Roman Safiullin who is currently ranked 39th in the world. It is only the sixth time in Safiullin’s career that he has beaten a top 20 player on the Tour and the second time he has beaten Shelton after Chicago 2022.
Another player exiting the tournament is Andy Murray, who suffered a frustrating loss to Grigor Dimitrov. The former world No.1 looked to be in control as he worked his way to a 6-4, 4-4, lead without facing a single break point. However, second seed Dimitrov battled his way back to snatch the second set and then began the decider with a four-game winning streak to seal a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, victory. Since the start of 2023, the Bulgarian has won his opening match in 20 out of 22 tournaments played.
“We saw each other a couple of times throughout the week and we were laughing because we played here 10 years ago,” Dimitrov said of his latest clash with Murray.
“As soon as I came out here today, I still felt a little rusty, to be honest. I had to keep on fighting, keep on finding my shots and going after my game. I had to keep believing in the work I put into my game.
“I just really want to enjoy it every time I get out here (on the court) and I don’t take it for granted.”
In the second round of the tournament, Rune will play Alexander Shevchenko, Safiullin will face Alexei Popyrin and Dimitrov will take on either Li Tu or Daniel Altmaier.
