It seems like just yesterday when Caroline Wozniacki was the up and coming star in women’s tennis.
But with ‘Miss Sunshine’ having now retired from the sport, Denmark’s hopes of a new women’s star have rested heavily on the shoulders of starlet Clara Tauson.
In the men’s game however, it’s been the case of ‘Find Holger’ (‘Where’s Wally?’ in Danish) for donkey’s years.
Well … they’ve found him. And so has the rest of the tennis world.
Holger Rune made Danish tennis history today, becoming the first Danish man in history to make it to the quarter finals of the French Open.
The 19-year-old displayed immense confidence en route to defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the quarters in Paris.
READ ALSO: Rising Danish tennis star Holger Rune knocks out world number 15 at French Open
A Runestone cowboy
The Greek fourth seed threatened a comeback after being down 5-2 in the fourth set, clawing back to 5-4 and having three break points to even up the set.
But Rune held his nerve and served home the historic result – and he did so on the Court Philippe-Chatrier, the revered centre court of Roland Garros, Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Check out the highlights of the match here, including this winner, which was named ‘Shot of the Day’.
Rune had already turned heads with his Cinderella run, which has seen him blaze into the last-16 without even dropping a set.
World number 15 Denis Shapolvalov was among those hastily dispatched on the way.
Up next will be a rare (these days anyway) all Nordic showdown in the quarter finals as Rune takes on Norwegian Casper Ruud on what is looking likely to be Wednesday.
Ruud, who is ranked eighth in the world, has beaten Rune on two occasions recently – though it was a close affair in the most recent match.
Ruud is the first Norwegian to ever reach the last eight in tournament history, so the match will see a historic winner no matter what happens.
