After withdrawing from his opener in Washington last week due to back pain, Rune returned to claim a 7-6(7), 6-3 victory in Toronto, his first hard-court win since reaching the Indian Wells final in March. The fifth-seeded Dane fired 12 aces to Mpetshi Perricard\u2019s seven and did not face a break point, according to Infosys ATP Stats, during their 76-minute clash.<\/p>\n
Signed, sealed, delivered \ud83d\udce8@holgerrune2003<\/a> passes the Mpetshi Perricard test 7-6(7) 6-3 and is through to the third round in Toronto. @NBOtoronto<\/a> | #NBO25<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/7F0RHNBoQI<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 ATP Tour (@atptour) July 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t served like this in a while,\u201d said Rune, who dropped just three of 21 second-serve points. \u201cI\u2019ve been working on some small adjustments on my serve and it seems to be feeling good. It felt really good and I trusted it all the way.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he\u2019s hitting those big serves, there\u2019s not much to do, so it\u2019s just about focusing on your own serve. I think I did that well. I\u2019m just very happy with the match in general.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite withdrawing on the day of his D.C. opener, Rune spent three days in Washington working with Andre Agassi<\/a>. Their time together may have been short, but the former World No. 4 Rune looks sharp upon return to action for the first time since his first-round loss at Wimbledon<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n Mpetshi Perricard dropped 17 aces on Rune en route to the Basel title last year, but the 22-year-old Dane used the quick conditions at the Canadian ATP Masters 1000 event to earn revenge and level their Lexus ATP Head2Head series at 1-1.<\/p>\n With a 23-14 tour-level record in 2025, highlighted by winning the Barcelona title in April, Rune is 15th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. He will next face Alexandre Muller<\/a> in Toronto.<\/p>\n Lorenzo Musetti<\/a>, who is sixth in the Live Race and aiming to debut at the Nitto ATP Finals<\/a>, also came through his opening Toronto test in straight sets on Tuesday, beating James Duckworth<\/a> 7-5, 6-1. With his win, the 23-year-old Italian snapped a three-match losing streak after first-round exits in Wimbledon<\/a> and Washington.<\/p>\n The 23-year-old Italian owns a Tour-leading 17 wins at ATP Masters 1000 level this year, but 13 have come on clay. If he is to strengthen his chances of competing in Turin, he must carry the form he gathered during the European clay-court swing \u2014 where he reached the semi-finals at all three Masters events and Roland Garros<\/a> \u2014 into the North American hard-court season.<\/p>\n You May Also Like: Clay paved Lorenzo Musetti’s path, but hard road ahead is no fast lane to Turin<\/a><\/p>\n Musetti will next play Alex Michelsen<\/a>, who edged Tomas Barrios Vera<\/a> 7-6(7), 6-3 in a tense second-round clash. The 26th-seeded American saved three set points in the opening set before racing through the second to earn his first win in Toronto.<\/p>\n In other early action, defending champion Alexei Popyrin<\/a> began his campaign with a 7-6(7), 6-3 win against Canadian wild card Nicolas Arseneault<\/a>. The 25-year-old Popyrin, who last year ousted five consecutive Top 20 players to win his biggest career title, will next play 10th seed Daniil Medvedev<\/a>. Popyrin\u2019s second-round victory marked his third hard-court win of the season.<\/p>\n Medvedev overcame lucky loser Dalibor Svrcina<\/a> 7-6(3), 6-4, but the 2021 champion is looking for more out of his game.<\/p>\n \u201cI was far from my best tennis, but it happens,\u201d said a relieved Medvedev post match. \u201cIn Washington, I felt like I played a good match against Corentin [Moutet] and I lost. Wimbledon<\/a>, kind of the same. It\u2019s better to play worse and win, so I\u2019m happy I won the match.\u201d<\/p>\n \nEmilio Nava<\/a> downed French lucky loser Terence Atmane<\/a> 6-2, 7-5 to record consecutive tour-level wins for the second time after reaching the quarter-finals in Los Cabos two weeks ago. The 23-year-old American will next face 11th seed Karen Khachanov<\/a>, who eased past Argentine qualifier Juan Pablo Ficovich<\/a> 6-4, 6-2.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n![\"It](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753867331_462_it-all-adds-up-banner.jpg\"\/)
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