Australian Open: Berrettini-Rune in the second round

Holger Rune held his nerve in the first round of the Australian Open.

Eliminated on his debut in Brisbane by Jiri Lehecka, the Dane was looking for his first Australian Open success of the year, but didn't have the ideal draw as Zhang Zhizhen came up against him.

Beaten in the second round by Arthur Cazaux last year, Rune, seeded 13th, battled hard but finally eliminated the Chinese after a 3:13 battle (4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4).

He will meet Matteo Berrettini in the next round for a mouth-watering encounter.

The Italian also had a tricky first round against Cameron Norrie.

Although the Briton got off to the best possible start, Berrettini gradually gained the upper hand and won in four sets (6-7, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3).

Solid on serve (32 aces and 5 break points saved out of 5), the former world No. 6 will face another test in his next match against Holger Rune.

The latter is leading three games to one in direct confrontations. Berrettini won the first one at Indian Wells in 2022.

In 2024, they met twice, with the winner of the 2022 Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 coming out on top both times (in Cincinnati and Shanghai).