Holger Rune finds killer instinct in tie-breaks after epic win over Flavio Cobolli – ‘I usually find my best tennis’ – Eurosport

Holger Rune explained how he found that inner strength to push through a tense tie-break to book his place in the third round at Roland-Garros.

The Dane played a gruelling five-setter against Flavio Cobolli with a 6-4 6-3 3-6 3-6 7-6(6) win that included a tense tie-break at the death.

His reward is a third-round clash against Slovakian Jozef Kovalik on Saturday, and Rune admits that Cobolli’s resurgence caught him by surprise.

“I hoped it would be just another day in the office. A calm game, where the first two sets were played in just over an hour,” Rune told Eurosport Denmark.

“I played some good sets. They were not handed to me, I played well.

“Then he starts playing well and the fifth set was completely crazy. Behind 40-0 on my own serve at 4-4, the crowd really helped me, it’s an amazing atmosphere on Court 14.

“He’s playing some of the best tennis I’ve seen him play in my life. It was a fantastic match to play and winning it is the best feeling.

“Tie breaks, I don’t lose. I usually find my best tennis in these situations. I didn’t start very well and was behind 5-0. I said to myself, I just need one point to kick-start myself and get going. I got that with an amazing backhand return down the line and got some confidence.”

The 21-year-old also explained how he was able to turn the match around after losing the third and fourth sets.

“I tried to relax and play freely because if I kept playing like this, I was going to lose for sure,” he added.

“I made a decision to go for my strokes, and if I fail, I fail. I had to give myself the opportunity to win, I was not going to get it handed to me.

“During the last few points I had the upper hand, he got too eager and made the mistakes I needed to close the game.”

Rune then revealed the mental mindset which was crucial to claiming a hard-fought victory and finding the inner strength to pull through when it mattered.

“I have something I say to myself in tie breaks, which I don’t want to share in case any players are listening.

“But they’ve worked really well so far, it’s a very simple thing I say to myself, and I usually play my best tennis in tie breaks.

“I’m really focused on each point and I play free and at the same time stay really solid and enter a pretty good mindset in those tie breaks.”