It was a match between two tennis generations. The Dane Holger Rune (8th ATP) is 19 years old, and the Swiss Stan Wawrinka (100th ATP) is eighteen years older than him. The Dane, who is seeded seventh in Indian Wells, was the favorite of this duel. The more so that Wawrinka in the last two years, also due to injuries, had a poor record (in 2021: 3-4, and last year: 8-5). This season he quickly dropped out of the Australian Open, because already in the first round.
A surprise in Indian Wells. Rune fired following the match. “You won’t tell me anything this time?”
Holger Rune might come out of big trouble in the match. He lost the first set 6-2 in 31 minutes. In the second set, he was one step away from being eliminated from the tournament. He was losing 3-5 and Stan Wawrinka served. In the ninth game, the three-time Grand Slam winner (Australian Open 2014, Wimbledon 2015 and US Open 2016) was leading 40:30 and had the match point. He did not use it, lost three points in a row and was broken. Rune won his pass, equalized at 5-5 and returned to the game.
Moments later, there was a tie-break. Wawrinka dominated in the beginning and led as much as 4-0, 5-2. From the latter state, the Dane started to play excellently and scored five points in a row. On the set ball, Wawrinka served well, went to the net, Rune hit a hard forehand and the Swiss volleyed into the net.
The result was the decisive set. Up to 4:4, both players were confidently winning their service games (seven of them to zero or 15). It wasn’t until the ninth game that there was a fight for advantage. Much of this is due to Rune, who made three mistakes in a row from 40:15 (he played the smashes twice) and Wawrinka had a chance to break. The Dane, however, defended himself with a good serve and finishing strokes.
In the 11th game, following Rune’s misjudgment, followed by his unforced forehand error, Wawrinka had another chance to break! The nervous Dane mightn’t take the pressure and following a while he hit a bad backhand down the line. The Swiss did not waste another chance to win. In the twelfth game, he won his serve without any problems – to zero.
Wawrinka had more winners in the match (43-32) and committed fewer unforced errors (21-31). He also had better win points following the first (75-64%) and second serve (61-47%).
After the meeting, both men shook hands, but Rune mightn’t stand the tension. He said to Wawrinka, “You won’t tell me anything this time?” The very surprised Swiss answered him: “What do you want me to tell you” and the discussion ended.
Rune referred to the events of last November from the tournament in Paris. The Swiss then told him “Stop acting like a child on the court”, referring to some of the Dane’s odd behavior. Rune then won 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 (7-3).
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Stan Wawrinka will face the winner of the match: Jannik Sinner (Italy, ATP 13) – Adrian Mannarino (France, ATP 68) in the 1/8 finals of the tournament in Indian Wells.
