Holger Rune suffered a slump in form after his initial breakthrough on the ATP Tour, but now the impressive Dane is heading back to the top 10 of the ATP Rankings after some thrilling performances at the Barcelona Open.
Rune’s hugely impressive form in Barcelona continued with his finest display yet, as he beat Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-2 to seal a fine win that sets up a win against Spanish hero Carlos Alcaraz in a mouth-watering final.
It was enough to fire Rune up to No 9 in the live ATP Rankings and while that some way short of his highest position of No 4, it looks like a more mature and consistent player is now rising to the surface.
He was asked about his return to the top 10 after beating Khachenov and admitted it was ‘definitely a motivation’.
“At the beginning of the week, it’s not really something I think about, but it is great for it to happen,” said Rune.
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“I told myself: ‘Let’s use it as a training week to build’. Now it’s not really a training week, it’s become a very good week.
“I’m super happy to be in the final and back in the Top 10 in the Live Rankings, it feels good.
“I was playing very well from the back of the court, and mixing up the pace very well. He’s very good from the serve, [using] his forehand and backhand. So I tried to make it difficult for him by mixing it up with drop shots, slices, and high balls. It’s all a balance, but I’m happy with how I handled it today.”
Rune has a win on his record against Barcelona final opponent that came during his run to the 2022 Paris Masters title, with another win over Alcaraz likely to be even more significant on Sunday.
Before Alcaraz burst to the top of the game and won four Grand Slam titles in double quick time, Rune was being viewed as the leader of the next generation of superstar players.
He has been left in Alcaraz’s shadow over the last couple of years and told Tennis365 last December that he as made some mistakes that have contributed to his momentum being halted.
“It all happened very fast for me when I won the Paris Masters and that was nice, but it was also stressful in some moments, especially when I started playing bad at the end of 2023,” Rune told Tennis365.
“Now I am back on a better path and improving. Now I’m not looking too much into what happened in the past, but more what is happening now and in the future, as that’s what I can control.
“You can look at pressure in two different ways. You can say there is a lot of pressure, or you can say it’s amazing that people believe in me and have high expectations for me to be a great player. This is my dream and we are living it.
“I don’t think about any expectations on me when I’m playing. I don’t think I need to win this match because of the expectations on me. I am very competitive when I go out there and you need to learn that when you are young, you don’t know everything yet. It’s about finding out how to react after great moments and to practice even harder after great moments.
“I have always believed in myself, but over the last one and a half years, I haven’t put the right work in. Now I am putting the right work in I hope the rewards will come.
“Without the specific tennis, fitness and mental things we are working on, it won’t happen. Everyone can say they want to win a Grand Slam, but you need to put the right work in.
“I can only blame myself because the decisions were all made by me. Every coach I’ve had and every person I’ve had has done the best they can do for my tennis, but it needs to fit the person and I think it’s really, really personal to have the right people.
“There are not hundreds of guys out there, but it’s about having the right people in your team who can give me what I want to improve my game and I feel like I have that now.”
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