Roland Garros: Holger Rune see off Francisco Cerundolo in an epic five sets encounter to reach quarter finals 

Holger Rune became a five-set winner for the first time in dramatic circumstances on Monday at Roland Garros, where the sixth-seeded Dane overcame Francisco Cerundolo and physical issues to clinch a 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(10-7) fourth-round victory.

Rune prevailed in a three-hour, 59-minute encounter of fluctuating quality by claiming a nail-biting deciding set on Court-Suzanne-Lenglen. Rune had failed to serve out the match at 5-4 earlier in the set but overcame that disappointment with a steely Match Tie-break display.

Rune is now 1-2 in five-set matches. At January’s Australian Open, the Dane let slip two match points before falling to a fourth-round Match Tie-break defeat against Andrey Rublev. The World No. 6 cited that experience as key to his ability to handle the pressure against Cerundolo.

“I had a heartbreaking loss in Australia, where I had this situation,” said Rune in his on-court interview. “I served for the match and lost and ended up in a Match Tie-break like this, so actually I told myself when we started the Match Tie-break just to relax and play tennis and enjoy [it].

“Moments like this stay with you forever, no matter if you win or lose, you just go an d enjoy and try to play your best, so I enjoyed every moment.”

The 20-year-old Rune will take on fourth seed Casper Ruud in his second major quarter-final after the Norwegian earlier downed Nicolas Jarry 7-6(3), 7-5, 7-5. It will be a repeat of the 2022 quarter-final between the pair, which Ruud claimed in four sets.