Holger Rune upsets No. 4 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach French Open quarterfinals
Danish teenager Holger Rune has eliminated 2021 French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach his first major quarterfinal in his Roland Garros debut.
The 40th-ranked Rune beat fourth-seeded Tsitsipas 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 at Court Philippe Chatrier on Monday in Paris.
Tsitsipas is the first player seeded in the top eight to leave the men's bracket.
"I was very nervous on the court, being frustrated a lot," Tsitsipas said after the match. "And I knew I was this way, but I couldn't stop being like this."
Rune never had won a Grand Slam match until last week, going 0-2 in previous appearances at the sport's top four events.
But the hard-hitting 19-year-old now joins sixth-seeded Carlos Alcaraz to make this the first Slam tournament with two teenagers in the men's quarterfinals since Hendrik Dreekmann and Andrei Medvedev at the 1994 French Open.
"These kids are going to want to beat me badly because obviously they are chasing," Tsitsipas said. "I'm chasing too, but I'm at a different kind of position than they are. I'm hungry to beat them too. Now that they have beat me, I want pay back."
Rune had a bit of trouble closing things out against Tsitsipas after going up 5-2 in the fourth set. Rune dropped nine points in a row and his lead narrowed to 5-4. Then he needed to save three break points before serving out the biggest victory of his career.
Rune will next play No. 8 seed Casper Ruud, who became the first man from Norway to get to the round of eight at the French Open.
US Open champion Daniil Medvedev has a night match against 33-year-old Marin Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion.
Ruud reached his first career Grand Slam quarterfinal by beating Hubert Hurkacz 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
The 12th-seeded Hurkacz was a semifinalist at Wimbledon last year. He had lost in the first round of the French Open in three consecutive appearances.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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