Rune beats eighth seed Bergs in Stockholm to set up Kecmanovic second-round clash
Holger Rune made a winning start to his fourth Stockholm appearance, beating Belgium’s eighth seed Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-4 in the first round on Tuesday. The 2022 champion is back at the event where an Achilles injury ended his semi-final run last year and kept him out for 11 months. Next up is Miomir Kecmanovic, whom the Dane leads 3-1 in their head-to-head.
Holger Rune, 2026 | © Alice Jacquesa pour Creafeed / Tennis Majors
2022 champion Holger Rune made a winning start to his fourth appearance in Stockholm, where an Achilles injury ended his run last year, as he beat Belgium’s eighth seed Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the Stockholm ATP 250 on Tuesday.
Rune will face Miomir Kecmanovic in the second round, after Kecmanovic beat Arthur Rinderknech 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4.
The 23-year-old Dane is one of two former champions in the field, alongside second seed Casper Ruud, having won the title in 2022 by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. His run to the semi-finals here last year ended with an Achilles injury that sidelined him for 11 months.
He arrived in Stockholm seeking a third tour-level win of 2026, after beating Halys and Hurkacz to reach the Basel quarter-finals.
On the eve of the tournament, Rune said in an interview with SpilXperten that he took Roger Federer as an example of how to dominate after returning from injury. Against a seeded opponent, this was the kind of straight-sets win his comeback needed.
He had also beaten Bergs in their only previous tour-level meeting, at Marseille in 2022, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Bergs, who won his first ATP Tour title at Eastbourne in June, was making his Stockholm debut and missed the chance to become the first Belgian to win a main-draw match at the event since Darcis in 2015.
Kecmanovic stands in Rune’s way
Kecmanovic, ranked No. 64, let a one-set lead slip before beating world No. 58 Rinderknech earlier on Tuesday. The result reversed the trend of the rivalry: the Frenchman led their head-to-head 3-1 and had won their last meeting 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 in Montreal in August.
The win took the 27-year-old Serbian’s record in Stockholm to six wins and three losses, and his season record to 16 wins and 25 losses. He last lifted a trophy in Delray Beach in February 2025, and his career-high ranking remains No. 27, first reached in January 2023.
Rune leads Kecmanovic 3-1 in their head-to-head. Kecmanovic won their only meeting in Stockholm, 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the last 16 in 2023. Rune won the three meetings that followed, at Basel in 2023, then at the Australian Open and in the Davis Cup qualifiers in 2025, the last of them 6-2, 6-4.
Bybit Stockholm Open 2026 first-round results
Cameron Norrie d. James Duckworth 7-5, 6-0
Miomir Kecmanovic d. Arthur Rinderknech 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4
Holger Rune d. Zizou Bergs (8) 6-3, 6-4
Toby Samuel (Q) d. Leo Borg (WC) 6-3, 6-2
Borna Gojo (Q) d. Tomas Machac 6-3, 6-4
Ugo Humbert (7) d. Adolfo Daniel Vallejo 6-4, 6-3
Alex Michelsen (6) d. Yannick Hanfmann 6-2, 6-3
Juan Manuel Cerundolo d. Elias Ymer (WC) 6-1, 7-6 (4)
Lorenzo Sonego (Q) d. Quentin Halys 6-4, 7-6 (4)
Tomas Martin Etcheverry (5) d. Max Dahlin (WC) 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3
Thiago Agustin Tirante d. Jaume Munar 7-6 (3), 6-3
Aleksandr Shevchenko (Q) d. Adrian Mannarino (LL) 6-1, 6-3
In bold: today’s results.
