Rune survives scare in Brisbane, through to second round

Top seed Holger Rune has defeated Australia’s Max Purcell in three sets to make the second round of the Brisbane International, coming back from a set down

Bren Gray

January 1, 2024

No 1 seed Holger Rune has survived a first round scare at the Brisbane International presented by Evie, scraping past home favourite Max Purcell 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Monday at the Queensland Tennis Centre.

The match, which lasted one hour, 40 minutes, saw Purcell start the better of the pair in front of a raucous Australian crowd. Making 11 of 11 first serves in the opening set, Purcell capitalised on both breakpoint opportunities the world No 8 provided him with, claiming the set 6-4.

Rune Recovers! 👏

No.1 seed @holgerrune2003 comes back from set down to defeat Purcell 4-6 6-4 6-2#BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/h0jjuHHMZI
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) January 1, 2024

However, Rune tightened up his game significantly in the second set, striking just one unforced error to his 10 winners. This was enough to give the Dane momentum in the match, with the No 1 seed rolling past Purcell in the deciding set to book a spot in the second round.

Next up, Rune will face Alexander Shevchenko, who knocked out NextGen star Luca van Assche 6-3, 6-2 to begin his 2024 campaign on a high.