Holger Rune stuns Stan Wawrinka, continues rich vein of form at Paris Masters

Holger Rune (19) closed out Tuesday's action at the Rolex Paris Masters with a comeback victory over Stan Wawrinka, making an unforgettable tennis tournament debut. Rune saved three match points, two in the second set and one in the third. A two-and-a-half-hour match on Court 1 that lasted beyond midnight saw the Dane come back and win 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) to keep up his dazzling ATP Tour form.

Rune has now won 14 of his last 16 matches after reaching the finals in three of his last four competitions, including a title run in Stockholm. Given that he started this week as the World No. 18, the stretch allowed him to make his debut in the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings as quoted by ATP Tour.

Rune's loss to Wawrinka in the first set resulted from a late break, and at 5-4 in the second, the Swiss once more came close to landing the decisive blow. However, Rune saved two match points to begin a run of three straight victories and force a decisive game. In the last set, there was just one break point available, which also served as a match point when Rune was serving to stay alive at 5-6.

The young man maintained his composure to hold, winning his final eight service points as he easily won the tie-break. He advances to the second round and on Wednesday will take on Hubert Hurkacz, the 10th seed. Earlier on Tuesday, the Pole defeated French wild card, Adrian Mannarino, 7-6(5), 6-4.

At the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan the following week, Rune will wrap up his breakthrough season.

One week after reaching the Basel quarterfinals, Wawrinka's 2022 ATP Tour campaign came to a painful end with a loss. The Swiss player had an 8-14 tour-level record for the year, but his recent play will give him hope as he recovers from a 2021 left-foot surgery. .

( With inputs from ANI )