Holger Rune halted Ryan Peniston’s hopes of a second consecutive dream run at the Cinch Championships on Wednesday.
The second seed, who began the week with an 0-3 tour-level record on grass, defeated the home favourite 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals at Queen’s Club. He will next play sixth seed Lorenzo Musetti, who clawed past Ben Shelton in three sets earlier in the day.
“I think the most important is that I came with a very, very humble approach to the surface and [was] ready to adjust it at any moment,” Rune said in his on-court interview. “I played Ryan last year, so I knew more of what I was coming into. Last year I didn’t see him play so much, but I’ve seen him over the year now and he’s a great player, especially on this surface.
“He’s dangerous. He makes you move and we all know how tough it is to move on grass, so I’m happy to come through.”
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Rune, who is making his tournament debut, has not lost a set through two matches. The 20-year-old was never in danger against Peniston, saving all three break points he faced.
Peniston has become a proven grass-court player. All six of his tour-level victories have come on the surface and last year at Queen’s Club, he upset Casper Ruud and Francisco Cerundolo.
But the Danish star Rune set the tone by breaking his lefty opponent’s serve in his first return game of the match. He struggled to serve out the first set and the match, but dug out of trouble each time.
Rune will crack the Top 5 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time next Monday if he triumphs at the Cinch Championships.
In other action, Sebastian Korda won an all-American battle against Frances Tiafoe 7-6(2), 6-3 behind 15 aces.
“Me and Frances always have some battles and just very happy to get through in straight sets,” Korda said in his on-court interview. “Frances, he always brings a show, he always gets the crowd involved. Sometimes you’ve just got to kind of put your head down and take care of business. That’s all you can really do because when he starts to get going and kind of bringing everyone in, then he plays some of the best tennis on Tour.”
The 2021 Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up is continuing his comeback after missing three months due to a wrist injury. Korda dominated behind his first serve, winning 90 per cent of those points to put pressure on his opponent.
Tiafoe this week was competing for the first time as a Top 10 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The 25-year-old reached a career-high World No. 10 on Monday after triumphing in Stuttgart.