Rune has risen to world No. 10 after winning his first Masters 1000 title. His rise, however, dates back months. The 2022 Roland Garros was the tournament that catapulted him into the eyes and ears of the whole world. Just over a year ago, he was number 313 in the ATP rankings, aged 18. A strong second half of 2021 saw him start 2022 ranked 103, but it wasn’t until his big performance at Roland Garros this year (in which he reached the quarter-finals) that he climbed up to the 30th position and was crowned as one of the stars of the future.
The parallel with Alcaraz, the other gem of the 2003 generation
Rune is bidding to be one of the top contenders for the new world tennis sensation, Alcaraz. The first tournaments they both played, which put them in the public spotlight, are very similar. The championship that gave the Murcian a name was the 2021 US Open, in which he was the surprise. In that Grand Slam, Alcaraz beat Tsitsipas in the round of 16. He didn’t win the tournament after that, but that’s when the tennis world welcomed a new rising star. For his part, Rune followed a similar path at Roland Garros in 2022, where he also beat Tsitsipas, in his case in the round of 16. Now both are among the top 10, and are called to be the main cracks and maximum rivals of the coming years.
Alcaraz already made history by reaching the top position in the ATP rankings after winning the last US Open in 2022. Holger Rune is now making it into the top 10 tennis players in the world, after winning in Paris. Rune is the third youngest player to get a place in the top 10only behind Rafa Nadal (who entered it at 18) and Alcaraz himself (also at 18).
“I don’t know if we’ve really seen his best tennis”
Rune’s coach this year, Patrick Mouratoglou, spoke of the Dane’s premature rise after his victory at the Masters 1000 in Paris. He mentioned, above all, that the young tennis player still has a lot to learn. “We have to be very transparent about this. He can progress. There are elements in which he can really improve a lot”, assured the coach, who also made it clear that his current successes and achievements are not the end of the road: “It is in the top 10. It is not his ambition. It’s wonderful, but it’s not his ambition.”
On a curious note, despite Rune’s win over Djokovic, the Nordic tennis player lost many of the stats during the match. The Serbian made more points, more aces and had a better first serve hit rate. Mouratoglou did not forget these elements when assessing the match: “I don’t know if we really saw his best tennis. He is higher than before, but we have to stabilize his game, make it so regular like in this tournament.”
For his part, Rune was excited and even more ambitious. “It’s probably the best feeling of my life, of my entire career. It’s kind of a little dream come true, even though I have bigger dreams,” he expressed.
Holger Rune, born winner
The 19-year-old Dane made his debut at an ATP tournament in March 2021. However, the young tennis player already had a champion track record when he was taking his first steps before turning pro in 2020. Rune won a total of 10 titles in the junior category. Among them, Roland Garros in 2019 stands out. Now, as a player on the senior circuit, he has already won three ATP tournaments: the one in Munich, defeating Botic van de Zandschulp, who withdrew due to injury (3-4); the Stockholm Open against Tsitsipas (6-4, 6-4) and the aforementioned Paris Masters 1000, against Djokovic (3-6, 6-3, 7-5).
