7–6 (7–3), 3–6, 6–4, 1–6, 7–6 (10–7) were the winning numbers that finally took the 20-year-old Dane on from the swinging meeting with the Argentine Francisco Cerundolo.
Sixth-seeded Rune was really bad at a 3-4 and 0-40 deficit in the fifth set. He wriggled out of that hold and later had a chance to serve the game home himself when leading 5–4 – but failed.
It was a super tiebreak that had to decide. Holger Rune suffered a painful loss against Andrev Rublev in the Australian Open earlier this year in the same situation – but now he was at his strongest.
— I told myself when the tiebreak started to just relax, play tennis and enjoy, says Rune after reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros for the second year in a row.
In the quarter-finals, fourth-seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud awaits, who had an easier journey in his round of 16 final. Ruud defeated the Chilean Nicolas Jarry 7–6, 7–5, 7–5.