Rune rises to Chatrier occasion

Danish 10th seed on collision course with Musetti in last 16

Holger Rune / Deuxième tour Roland-Garros 2025©Corinne Dubreuil / FFT
 - Victoria Chiesa

Holger Rune (10) bt Emilio Nava 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3

Last time he was on Court Philippe-Chatrier, Holger Rune was coming up agonisingly short in a five-set, fourth-round defeat to Alexander Zverev last spring.

His return to Paris’ main stage on Wednesday night was much more joyful.

The No.10 seed was a straightforward 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 winner over American wild card Emilio Nava to book a spot in the third round in Paris for the fourth straight year.

‘The best clay court in the world’

Despite more than 120 places in the rankings between the two players, there was an argument that Nava was the more in-form of the two on clay courts this spring. 

The 23-year-old earned his place in the draw thanks to a 19-match winning streak on the ATP Challenger Tour on clay, impressing the USTA enough that he was awarded the reciprocal wild card into Roland-Garros by the Americans for his exploits.

Rune, conversely, won back-to-back matches only once in five tournaments in the spring season—but it was in Barcelona, where he went all the way to the title and topped Carlos Alcaraz in the final.

But the venue he dubbed “the best clay court in the world,” and “one of [his] favourite courts,” deserved a special performance, and Rune had just that. A comprehensive effort in the first and third sets sandwiched a very competitive second, in which 2019 US Open boys’ singles finalist Nava came from a break down and had two break points at 4-4 to serve for one set all.

“I think it was good, I played very well in the first set, second set was a big battle; I had to dig deep, find some good shots and stay very consistent, because he was playing big-time tennis,” Rune said afterwards. 

“I had to really stay there and keep the focus and try to play on my terms. I started very well in the third set, lost a bit of focus, but then I came back, so I’m very happy.”

Rune is now 12-3 at Roland-Garros in his career, the only major thus far in which he has amassed double-digit wins. It is also the only Grand Slam tournament in which Rune has not lost in the first three rounds.

Stat pack

Clean and consistent was the name of the game for the Dane in victory. Rune hit 29 winners to 26 unforced errors; though Nava nearly matched him in finishing shots (25), he racked up 40 unforced errors. 

He also won 73 per cent of the points played when he landed a first serve, and saved seven of nine break points.

Holger Rune Roland-Garros 2025 / deuxième tour©Corinne Dubreuil / FFT

Will Rune’s Paris love affair continue?

Up next for Rune will be a date with 50th-ranked Frenchman Quentin Halys, who backed up the good fortune of his victory over No.28 seed Tomas Machac by retirement with a hard-fought four-set win over Serb Miomir Kecmanovic.

While Rune has never lost in the first week at Roland-Garros, Halys has never been past the third round of any of the four majors. Something’s gotta give in this one. 

And effusive in his praise of the French faithful who stayed to watch his match against Nava, will Rune feel the same way when he faces a local favourite?

Further ahead, the Dane could be on a highly-anticipated collision course with in-form No.8 seed Lorenzo Musetti in the round of 16.