Holger Rune beat Quentin Halys 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-6(5) in the first round of the Swiss Indoors Basel, his first ATP Tour win since tearing his Achilles in Stockholm in October 2025. Halys served 32 aces, but Rune took the decisive tie-break.
Basel, Switzerland: For more than a year, the question trailed Holger Rune from court to court: when would the first real win come back? On Monday, in a match that refused to end quietly, it finally did. The former world No. 4 outlasted the big-serving Quentin Halys in just under two hours and 40 minutes.
A long road back from Stockholm
Rune tore his Achilles tendon at the Stockholm Open in October 2025, where he had also won his previous ATP Tour match, and underwent surgery. He returned in September, winning both of his singles rubbers for Denmark in the Davis Cup, but the Tour kept him waiting. He lost in the first round in Tokyo and again in Shanghai, where Daniel Altmaier came from a set down to beat him.
Thirty-two aces, one stubborn returner
Halys, ranked a career-high No. 45 and the winner of his first ATP title in Kitzbühel in July, gave him no gifts. Rune took the opening set 6-4. Halys then dominated the second-set tie-break, winning it 7-2, and kept firing, finishing with 32 aces. Rune had to save break points in the decider to stay in the contest.
The tie-break that decided it
The final tie-break swung twice. Rune led 5-1, and Halys won four points in a row to level at 5-5. A Halys double fault then gave Rune match point, and he converted it to take the breaker 7-5 and the match 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-6(5).
Basel history and what comes next
Basel has always been kind to Rune. He is now 11-3 in the event, having lost the 2022 final to Felix Auger-Aliassime and reached the semi-finals in 2023 and 2024. He plays either Hubert Hurkacz or Zizou Bergs in the next round. The win also arrives in a week already carrying emotion at the tournament, with Stan Wawrinka’s farewell tribute on the opening Monday.
Result: Holger Rune (Denmark) beat Quentin Halys (France) 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-6(5) in about 2 hours 40 minutes at the Swiss Indoors Basel (ATP 500), first round, Monday 26 October 2026. Next: Hubert Hurkacz or Zizou Bergs.
