Holger Rune’s late-season surge showed no sign of abating Wednesday at the Swiss Indoors Basel, where the 19-year-old fired his way to a 6-2, 7-5 first-round win against Alex de Minaur.
After lifting his second ATP Tour title on Sunday in Stockholm, Rune picked up where he left off in Basel, hitting 26 winners to seventh-seeded De Minaur’s nine in an 89-minute triumph. It was the Dane’s second victory against De Minaur in the space of five days after he overcame the Australian in three sets in the Stockholm semi-finals on Saturday.
Having also reached the final in Sofia at the beginning of the month, Rune now holds an 11-2 record on European indoor hard courts this Autumn. The World No. 25, who will hope to maintain his form when he competes at November's Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, is chasing his third tour-level title of the season (Munich, Stockholm) but his first at ATP 500 level.
Rune’s next opponent in Basel will be Ugo Humbert, after the French qualifier downed Jenson Brooksby 6-1, 6-4.
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