In the end, it was a stunning win for Holger Rune in the first round of the US Open. The Danish sensation prevailed over Botic van de Zandschulp in a tight three-set encounter to progress to the second round of the tournament. As predicted, it turned out to be a keenly contested affair, with each set being decided by fine margins. After their encounter, Rune complained about his opponent’s behavior during the match, which he wasn’t very pleased with.

Throughout the match, van de Zandschulp was very vocal after winning a point. He made his feelings known to Rune and tried to intimidate him with his celebration. However, the Danish star kept his calm during crunch moments to emerge victorious in this encounter. Nonetheless, during the post-match interview, he made his feelings felt about his opponent.

Rune revealed, “He made it a little bit personal. He made a fist pump right in my face, so I know how he behaves when he’s a little bit stressed so it’s okay. I’m not afraid of that, I just turned it into fuel.” Indeed, it turned out to be one of the factors behind Rune’s close win over the Dutch star. Interestingly, the two had played against each other twice before, and Rune was very well aware of how his opponent would react during the match. Thus, he was ready for all scenarios and completed a confident victory over van de Zandschulp.

With this win, Rune also ended a first-round losing streak at the US Open. On three of the previous four occasions, including the previous two, Rune lost in the first round at Flushing Meadows. However, this time around, Rune looked confident going into the tournament, and it showed on the court against his Dutch opponent.

Meanwhile, Rune was elated to finally end the losing streak here. After the match, he expressed a sigh of relief as he progressed into the second round.

Holger Rune turns confident after ending losing run at US Open

In the previous editions of the US Open, Rune hadn’t had the best of results. A 3rd round appearance at the 2022 US Open remained his best result at Flushing Meadows so far, which is far less than a player of his caliber can achieve. However, he has high hopes of bettering it and made a candid revelation after his win over van de Zandschulp.

Rune said, “So nice to start the US Open this way. I still have yet to make a good, good result here. I really want to play well in New York.” This goes to show how badly Rune wants to succeed in New York.

Earlier, the Danish sensation was also confident about improved performances at Grand Slams. “We’ve been working very, very hard. I’m very, very driven to win a Slam. I had a lot of difficulties earlier in the year. Health stuff. And that was challenging; I was used to being sick maybe once a year or once every other year. What I learned is that, you know, when you feel something, it’s really important to check… take an extra day with the doctors. Because ultimately, it will be a shorter time that you’re away if you tackle something early,” Rune said.

Further, Rune will face Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round. The match can be followed on EssentiallySports’ Live Blog. It’ll be interesting to see if Rune can keep his hope alive at Flushing Meadows.