Stockholm, Day 2: Rune wins on his return to the scene of his injury

Holger Rune is back in the second round of the Bybit Stockholm Open, a year after an Achilles injury ended his semi-final run in Stockholm and kept him off the tour for 11 months. The 2022 champion beat Belgium’s eighth seed Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday.

Rune will be back in Sweden next month for the other major tennis event of the winter in Sweden, UTS Gothenburg by BNP Paribas, at the Scandinavium on December 12 and 13. He opens against Alexander Bublik in the quarter-finals. The other quarter-finals are Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Leo Borg, Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Luciano Darderi and Brandon Nakashima vs Andrey Rublev.

Rune solid on the big points

Rune needed 1 hour 27 minutes to get past Bergs, who won his first ATP title at Eastbourne in June. The Dane saved all five break points he faced and converted both of his own. It was his third tour-level win of 2026, after victories over Quentin Halys and Hubert Hurkacz in Basel last month, and his second win in two meetings with Bergs.

Rune, currently ranked No. 195 after his long absence, faces Miomir Kecmanovic next. The ex-World n°4 leads their head-to-head 3-1, but Kecmanovic won their only meeting in Stockholm, in the last 16 in 2023. The Serbian came through a 2-hour 25-minute battle with Arthur Rinderknech, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4.

Michelsen and Tirante into the quarter-finals

Sixth seed Alex Michelsen beat Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3, 6-2 in 1 hour 17 minutes. At 22, he is the youngest American to reach the quarter-finals in Stockholm since Jack Sock in 2014. Thiago Agustin Tirante joined him without hitting a ball: fifth seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry withdrew with a left calf problem.

Two qualifiers won first-round matches. Lorenzo Sonego beat Quentin Halys 6-4, 7-6 (4) and plays Alejandro Tabilo for a place against Michelsen. Aleksandr Shevchenko beat Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 6-3 and will face second seed Casper Ruud.