Holger Rune was seemingly fed up with his box late in the Andrey Rublev match as he started gesturing toward them to keep their mouth shut. In the 10th game of the fifth set – when Rublev was serving to stay in the match – Rune appeared to be unhappy with some of his team members.
Holger Rune gestures towards his box during this tense deciding set ð¤#AusOpen | @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/B1G4xjChIQ — Eurosport (@eurosport) January 23, 2023
In the end, Rune ended up losing a thriller after over three and a half hours of play as Rublev edged out the Dane 6-3 3-6 6-3 4-6 7-6 (9).
In the fifth set, Rune had a great chance to close out the match and progress into his first Grand Slam quarterfinal. After winning the fourth set and taking a 5-2 lead in the fifth set, it appeared that Rune would escape with a win.
But after Rune failed to serve out for the match in the ninth game, he had two match points in Rublev’s serve in the 12th game – but he didn’t realize and the set went into a tie-break.
Rune also blew a big tie-break lead and eventually lost to Rublev
As per the rules, the first to 10 points wins a fifth-set tie-break at the Australian Open.
In the tie-break, Rune took a 5-0 lead and later had a 7-3 lead but Rublev then won six consecutive points to overturn the deficit and take a 9-7 lead. Rune saved the first two match points but Rublev earned his third match point and realized it to escape with a thriller win.
“I think it was a great match. I think I had all the chances that I could wish for. I just didn’t close him. I had 5-2 in the fifth, [5/0] in the tiebreak. I thought I played strong from the fourth set. I raised my game a little bit.
I think I took my chances well, just not in the fifth set. That is where it matters. He was better than me in the important moments. Congrats to him,” Rune said after the match, per the ATP website. After becoming a Masters champion in Paris late in the 2022 season, Rune arrived to the Australian Open hoping to win his first Grand Slam.
