Holger Rune of Denmark toppled No. 8 seed Zizou Bergs of Belgium 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the Bybit Stockholm Open on Tuesday in Sweden.
Rune, 23, ruptured his Achilles during a semifinal match in Stockholm last year. Surgery and the ensuing recovery set him back for about 11 months, with Rune returning to the ATP Tour this September.
On Tuesday, Rune saved all five break points he faced while going 2-for-2 in breaking Bergs’ serve. Those successes made the difference in a close match, in which Bergs had more aces (8-5) and total winners (21-16) but also more unforced errors (28-17).
The remaining Round of 32 matches saw Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic defeat France’s Arthur Rinderknech 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4; Kazakh qualifier Aleksandr Shevchenko beat French lucky loser Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 6-3; and Italian qualifier Lorenzo Sonego defeat another Frenchman, Quentin Halys, 6-4, 7-6 (4).
The Round of 16 began with No. 3 seed Lorenzo Musetti sailing past British qualifier Toby Samuel 6-1, 6-4, and No. 6 seed Alex Michelsen defeat Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3, 6-2. No. 5 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry withdrew due to a calf injury, meaning his opponent and fellow Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante moved onto the quarterfinals via walkover.
–Field Level Media
