2 things that stood out in Holger Rune's 1R win over Felix Auger-Aliassime at China Open

Third seed Holger Rune of Denmark beat Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the China Open in Beijing on Friday, September 29. The match was over within a couple of hours, as the 20-year-old coasted to a win comfortably at the ATP 500 event.

The Canadian’s poor run in 2023 thus continued, as Rune did not give him much of a chance in the clash. Rune will next face Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in the second round on Saturday.

Dimitrov is a solid player, but Rune will be the favourite to win the encounter. Dimitrov’s legs could be put to a stern test by Rune’s shotmaking and the veteran Bulgarian might find the job too tough to handle.

On that note, let us take a look at two things that stood out in Holger Rune's win over Auger-Aliassime:

#1 Felix Auger-Aliassime relied on his inside-out forehand a lot

The inside-out forehand towards Rune’s backhand was Auger-Aliassime’s go-to shot throughout the match. He succeeded in winning points through it at times, but Rune held his own with his backhand for the most part.

Rune also managed to engage Auger-Aliassime in crosscourt backhand exchanges a number of times, and the Canadian struggled to deal with it. Rune easily had the better backhand of the two players and reaped the benefits of it.

Moreover, Auger-Aliassime was not able to return well enough in the match and did not get a single break point opportunity. In comparison, Rune got four break point opportunities in the match.

The World No. 4 managed to get the decisive break of serve in the first set to win it and draw first blood.

#2 Holger Rune defended particularly well as Auger-Aliassime kept hitting his shots long

2023 China Open - Day 4

Rune defended really well along the baseline, as the Canadian found it difficult to hit through him. Still, the latter hit a few good approaches and then ventured forward into the net to hit winners through volleys.

However, Auger-Aliassime’s tendency to overpress with his forehand made him hit a few of his shots long. He did so at critical moments, including on the break points in each of the two sets and also on match point.

Auger-Aliassime had the more powerful serve of the two, but struggled to win points on his first serve as compared to the 20-year-old. Rune won 88% of the points on his first serve in the match, while Auger-Aliassime managed only 69%. The Dane thus won the match quite deservingly.