Holger Rune says he is raring to go after taking a short break from the sport to address an injury issue that has been hampering him.
The world No.4 said he didn’t want to play any more tournaments until he found a solution to a back issue that has been troubling him. Rune previously told Danish TV that he had a pinched nerve in the fifth lumbar vertebra in his spine since the clay-court season. As a result, he has had to make adjustments to his service motion to overcome this problem.
“I was struggling with a back injury for a while. I got it fixed. I played a lot of tournaments with a lot of pain in my back,” Rune told reporters on Wednesday.
“I got to stop and fix it, not come back to playing tournaments until I’m one hundred percent. I’m ready to go and get excited for what’s to come.”
After a disappointing North American hard court swing, Rune is seeking to claim his first Tour win since Wimbledon. The lack of success is a stark contrast to the first half of this season where he reached two Masters 1000 finals and won his fourth ATP title at the Bavarian Open in Germany.
Rune’s focus is now on this week’s China Open in Beijing where he is the third seed behind Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev. It is a crucial time of the year for the Dane who is hoping to claim one of the eight qualifying spots for the Tour Finals in November. Currently, he is sitting in the eighth and final position in the Live Race.
“Definitely one of the goals is to be able to get into Turin, the Finals, at the end of the year,” said Rune.
“There are still many tournaments with a lot of points included to end the season.”
“There are 500 points here (Beijing), 1,000 points next week……there are plenty of points, so I’m going to try to focus on what I do instead of what everybody else is doing.”
Eager to make up for his recent lull in results, Rune faces a tough draw in Beijing where he will open up against Felix Auger-Aliassime. A former top 10 player who has struggled with injury and hasn’t won back-to-back matches since Indian Wells in March. Later in the tournament, he could play Grigor Dimitrov and Jannik Sinner. Then he is projected to face Alcaraz in the semi-finals.
“It’s going to be a great match, I think. He is a tough player. He’s been doing really well,” Rune previewed of his clash with Auger-Aliassime.
“I’m going to have to put him under a lot of pressure because when he gets the time to play, he’s very dangerous.”
Rune’s win-loss record for 2023 so far currently stands at 37-16.
