February, the busiest month of the ATP calendar, is serving up some delicious matches and the upcoming Holger Rune vs Borna Coric clash is up there. The duo will face off in the semi-finals of the 2024 Open Sud de France, aka the Montpellier Open.
This final four fixture will be the first meeting between the pair. Rune, seeded first, crossed paths with qualifier Pablo Llamas Ruiz in the Round of 16. Like top-seeded players, he received a bye into the second round. He had no issues seeing off the World No.156 Spaniard to come up against Michael Mmoh. The Dane had to work hard but got past the World No.133 in straight sets.
Coric also got a bye courtesy of being seeded fourth. He faced World No.99 Pedro Martinez in the second round, whom he thrashed. He next met promising youngster Flavio Cobolli, ranked No.76. Clearly, the World No.37 Croat has faced much better opponents than his semi-final rival.
Coric, though, enters the clash against Rune with less than 20 hours of rest after his quarter-final. The latter, in addition to being well-rested, has bags of talent and an evolved forehand. He may be coming off a split with Severin Luthi and a poor 2024 Australian Open campaign, but with Boris Becker back in the box, he already looks improved. Coric, meanwhile, is notorious for being wildly inconsistent. However, expect him to trouble the World No.7 with his powerful serves. Seemingly rediscovering his touch, The SportsRush predicts Holger Rune to win in three sets.
The Holger Rune vs Borna Coric semi-final is scheduled for Saturday, February 3, not before 4:30 p.m. local time (10:30 a.m. ET). Fans can stream this match on Tennis TV. Weather in Montpellier will be favourable, with clear skies and temperatures around 16°C.
Holger Rune vs Borna Coric – Form Guide before 2024 Montpellier Open
Borna Coric stunned the world by winning the 2022 Cincinnati Masters while ranked World No.152. However, he has failed to follow it up with any other title, not even making it to the final of any ATP tournament. His 2023 season was cut short after the US Open and he came back only at the 2024 United Cup. He won and lost one match each before heading over to Melbourne. However, he exited the 2024 Australian Open in the first round, going out to Frances Tiafoe.
Coric sought to get back to winning ways by participating in the Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, aka the BW Open, on the Challenger Tour. Finishing runner-up, he entered the 2024 Open Sud de France with a 5-3 W/L record, which comes down to 1-2 if only ATP Tour results are considered.
Holger Rune, meanwhile, continued his rise to finish 2023 as World No.8. His 2024 season got off to a great start as well, as he reached the final of the Brisbane International. With his form and high rank, he was expected to progress deep into the 2024 Australian Open. However, he fell in the second round to shock defeat at the hands of then-World No.122 Arthur Cazaux. He arrived in Montpellier with a 5-2 record for the year.
The winner of the Holger Rune vs Borna Coric semi-final will face either Felix Auger-Aliassime or Alexander Bublik in the summit clash of the 2024 Open Sud de France.
