On Wednesday, Holger Rune extended his brief 2026 season by securing a spot in the quarter-finals of the Stockholm Open.
After a disastrous start to the match, Rune found his rhythm and won the round of 16 clash against the Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic—ranked 64th in the world—with a scoreline of 2-6, 6-1, 6-4. In Thursday’s quarterfinal, Rune will face the top-seeded American, Taylor Fritz.
Rune, however, struggled to settle into his stylish stride in the beginning of the match after his otherwise impressive win against Zizou Bergs on Tuesday. The Dane made unforced errors in rapid succession and was broken to love in his very first service game.
While Kecmanovic remained solid from the baseline, Rune took big risks in many rallies but struggled to keep the ball in the court.
The Serbian broke serve again to take a 4-1 lead and closed out the set with another comfortable game, winning it 6-2 in just 24 minutes.
The roles were completely reversed in the second set. Leading 2-1, Rune capitalized on a few errors from the Serbian to secure a break for 3-1, a breakthrough that gave the Dane the belief he needed to turn the match around.
Rune began hitting winner after winner, clinching the set 6-1 in a mere 23 minutes.
Rune began the third set with a blistering backhand winner to illustrate that he had seized the upper hand. With the help of a net cord, Rune then secured a break to lead 1–0.
Kecmanovic struck back to level the score at 2–2, but Rune put himself back on the winning path with an outstanding game at 4–4.
In that game, Rune used his forehand to perfection, resulting in another break of serve to make it 5–4. Rune then stepped up to the service line and confidently closed out the win.
This marks Rune’s second quarter-final appearance since making his comeback to the ATP Tour just under two months ago, following an 11-month layoff due to injury.