This time last year Holger Rune was losing his first ever Challenger Tour final, one year later he has stunned 2021 French Open runner-up and tournament fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas to advance to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros.
The 19-year-old Dane becoming the first man from his country to make it this far at the clay court grand slam with the 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
He did it with a performance that belied his age and experience as he combined a mixture of powerful groundstrokes with deft drop shots to stun the Greek star in the biggest upset in this year's men's singles draw.
Rune too displayed nerves of steel to serve out the match on his second attempt.
He had led 5-2 in the fourth set only for Tsitispas to close the gap to 5-4 and Rune had to stave off three more break point chances to Tsitsipas with big serves before he needed just one match point to seal victory.
Rune said while outwardly he appeared calm — as he joined Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz as the second teenager in the final eight, the first time that has happened since 1994 — his nerves were jangling.
"I have an unbelievable feeling right now, " Rune told on-court interviewer Marion Bartoli.
"I was very nervous but at the same time In know if I go away from the tactics against a player like Stefanos I would lose for sure, so I told myself just to keep on playing in the tough moments and it worked out so well at the end."
Asked about the barrage of drop shots, Rune said it was part of the plan to upset Tsitsipas's rhythm.
"I had to play really fast and take time away from, him and I really like playing the drop shot so it's fun to play and it worked out pretty good."
For Tsitsipas, at 23, the loss is another lamentable miss in a career where for the large part the grand slams have not gone to plan and would be especially disappointing after making the semifinals at Roland Garros in 2020 before losing last year's final in five sets to Novak Djokovic.
For the Greek, who had won the prestigious Monaco title for the second time a few short weeks ago, the turning point came in the third set when a rare pair of double faults and two missed forehands gave Rune a break he would not relinquish as he took a two sets to one lead.
Asked about the rise of youngsters Alcaraz and Rune and his recent losses to them, Tsitsipas was reflective but also said it would make him hungrier.
"It has to come at some point, it comes for everyone right? I'm not worried, I know my game," he said.
"These kids are going to want to beat me badly because they are chasing.
That payback won't come on clay this year as Tsitsipas gets ready to transition to the grasscourt season, where he has lost in the first round of Wimbledon at his last two attempts.
For Rune though another first-time grand slam quarterfinalist awaits in Norway's Casper Ruud.
Eighth-seeded Ruud downed Poland's Hubert Hurkacz 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 earlier on Monday in a relatively cushy victory over the tournament's 12th seed.
Keys crashes out
Madison Keys totally lost control after a brilliant opening set as she crashed out of the French Open with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 defeat by Russian Veronika Kudermetova on Monday.
The 22nd seed, who was looking to be the third American into the last eight after Sloane Stephens and Coco Gauff qualified on Sunday, was powerless against her 25-year-old opponent's heavy forehand.
Keys raced through a one-sided opening set and seemed to be heading for a comfortable win, but Kudermetova started playing more accurately and took command of the second on court Philippe Chatrier.
The Russian relied on her forehand to put Keys on the back foot and found herself serving for the set in no time. Keys saved six set points as Kudermetova showed signs of nerves.
A big first serve saved her some blushes on the seventh attempt and the Russian carried the momentum into the decider.
A double break gave her a 4-1 lead in just 20 minutes and she bagged the next two games easily to wrap it up when Keys made a forehand unforced error.
"I tried to trust myself, to believe. That was my key," said the 29th seeded Kudermetova, who will face fellow Russian Daria Kasaktina in her first quarter-final appearance in the singles draw at a major.
"Sometimes I tried to play harder, sometimes with the spin, a little smarter. I did a god job today."
ABC/Reuters
