Holger Rune won his first Masters 1000 title in Paris Bercy beating former world number 1 Novak Djokovic in the final. He played in five ATP Tour finals in his career and won three titles in his breakthrough season. He is just the fourth player born in the 2000s to join the top 20 of the ATP Ranking.
The former world number 1 junior player started the 2022 season ranked world number 103 and broke into the top 100 for the first time in January 2022 becoming the second youngest male player behind Carlos Alcaraz to join the top 100. He joined the top 50 in May 2022 after winning his first ATP 250 title in Munich last May. In the German tournament the Danish player earned the biggest win of his career over world number 3 Alexander Zverev en route to his first final.
Last spring Rune made his main draw debut at Roland Garros. In the French capital the Danish player upset Denis Shapovalov in the first round before beating Stefanos Tsitsipas to earn his third win of the season over a top 15 player to reach the maiden quarter final of his career at Grand Slam tournament. Then he was beaten by Casper Ruud in four sets. He became the first Danish player to reach the quarter finals in tournament history and to advance any Grand Slam quarter final in the Open Era.
Rune reached his second ATP Tour final at the Sofia Open after defending champion Jannik Sinner retired in the semifinal due to an injury. Rune was beaten by Marc-Andrea Husler in the Sofia Open final.
Rune beat Alex De Minaur to advance to his third final at the Stockolm Open. He then won his second title beating top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 6-4 in the final. The following week he beat De Minaur again in the first round of the Swiss Open in Basel before scoring wins over Frenchmen Ugo Humbert in the second round and Arthur Rinderknech in the third round, Roberto Bautista Agut in the semifinal and Felix Auger Aliassime in the final.
Rune saved three match points in the opening match against Stan Wawrinka on his debut at the Paris Rolex Masters in Paris Bercy. The Dane then defeated four top 10 players in a row Hubert Hurkacz, world number 1 Andrey Rublev and Felix Auger Aliassime to reach his first Masters 1000 final and his fourth consecutive championships match in a row. He beat defending champion Novak Djokovic 3-6 6-3 7-5, scoring his fifth consecutive top-10 win. He became the youngest champion in Paris Bercy since Boris Becker in 1986. Rune moved into the top 10 in the ATP Ranking and is the first alternate at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.
“At the start of the 2022 season my goal was to join the top 25. I would never have thought that I could be the alternate at the ATP Finals. My goals have changed. Going from number 10 to 1 is also a lot, but I have beaten the number one and several top ten players this year. So I believe it is possible that I can finish 2023 as number one”, said Rune.
Rune is planning to continue following the same formula that carried him into the top 10.
“I need hard work and focus. Now I will have a short holiday, then there are the preparations for the new season. We have to get started. It will be with focus and the same mindset. I have to keep developing. I will try my best to achieve my goal. I have a great team. The turning point in my season was the ATP 250 tournament in Munich. I beat Alexander Zverev in the second round and I went on to win my first title. I reached the quarter finals in Paris Bercy after beating Tsitsipas and I realized that I could beat everyone. It’s a matter of confidence. If you are relaxed and trains well, it’s easier to win points”.
Rune beat Djokovic in the final of Paris Bercy Masters 1000. The Danish player has been compared to the 21-time Grand Slam champion.
“Novak is the strongest player I have ever faced. We are similar, because we play the crosscourt backhand, but I don’t like this comparison. I have grown in the same generation of players like Musetti. It’s nice to see young players like me, Lorenzo, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner reach the top. I hope that we can become the next Big Four. This would mean that we can play well. I would feel privileged to be part of this group, but we can’t rule out Nadal, who won two Grand Slam titles this year, and Djokovic, who won one. In almost all tournaments, they are in the finals. They have very long careers, but we are very young and we have a long career ahead”, said Rune.
Alcaraz won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open beating Casper Ruud in the championships match and reached the world number 1 spot.
“My goal is not to be better than Carlos but to be the best player that I can be. I have to focus on myself. What Alcaraz has achieved is incredible and he deserves to be where he is. I must make my way. He is a friend and a rival at the same time. We have known each other since we were 11 years old and we have a good connection. We played a lot against each other in juniors. He beat me and so did I, but always in close matches”, said Rune.
