PARIS (REUTERS) - Danish teenager Holger Rune swept aside 14th seed Denis Shapovalov in straight sets at the French Open on Tuesday (May 24) to earn his first win in a Grand Slam tournament and confirm his status as one of the sport's brightest prospects.
The 19-year-old, who won his maiden tour title in Munich this month, powered past the Canadian world No. 15 with ease, winning 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) and showing no nerves.
"I'm really positive and working hard every day to get better. This is what you work for every day, to be able to play the biggest tournaments," the baby-faced teenager with a bright smile told a news conference.
"You know, I'm super happy and pleased to be in this position right now, to be able to have chances against these guys, to be able to, you know, win my first title in Munich was a huge step forward in my career."
A former French Open junior champion at 16, Rune looked extremely comfortable on the red clay on the outside Court 12, cruising through the first two sets in less than an hour with Shapovalov having no answer to his power and serial drop shots.
The teenager shot up from the 400s in the rankings in 2021 to the top 100 early this year. He has already improved his ranking to world No. 40, a major accomplishment considering he played for the first time in the main draw of an ATP tournament just over a year ago.
"I'm improving every day. I'm trying to improve 1 per cent every day to get, you know, always to do things a little better than the day before," he said.
World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev showed no signs of discomfort from his recent hernia operation, kicking off his French Open campaign with a comfortable 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 win over Argentine Facundo Bagnis.
The 2021 US Open champion, who briefly held the world No. 1 ranking earlier in the season, played his first clay event of 2022 last week in Geneva after a two-month break but lost in the opening round to Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
Clay courts have not been Medvedev's strong suit and he was 0-4 at Roland Garros before last year's tournament but turned around his dismal record by reaching the quarter-finals of the 2021 edition.
"I love Roland Garros, especially since last year," Medvedev said with a smile during his on-court interview.
"Before that, I don't know if I actually loved it given that I was out on the Sunday when the tournament was actually starting on the Monday.
"But now it's Tuesday and I'm still here. I've been well after my surgery, I didn't think I would be able to play on clay. But with the help of the doctors and the physios I've been able to be back on my feet to even play a match on clay last week and I'm 100 per cent ready to play Roland Garros."
