Welcome to "Next Up," where USOpen.org will showcase rising stars on the ATP and WTA tours who could be in line to make a splash to remember at the 2022 US Open. Today, we're looking at Denmark's Holger Rune. Rune is a clay-court specialist who reached the quarterfinals of this year's Roland Garros, and one of only two teenagers currently in the ATP Top 100.
When you’re 19 years old, “progress” comes in starts and fits. By all accounts, Denmark’s teenage tennis star Holger Rune has enjoyed tremendous success in his chosen sport, especially when considering that approximately two-thirds of the ATP Top 100 are players age 25 or older, and only two on that short list are under 20.
(You may have heard of the other elite 19-year-old, Spain’s world No. 4 Carlos Alcaraz, who is only a week older than Rune.)
Following a third-round exit Citi Open two weeks ago, this Copenhagen native jumped to a career-best singles ranking of No. 26. His opening win at that tournament broke a seven-match losing streak—a learning curve of sorts that dated back to a breakthrough quarterfinal run at Roland Garros.
At the clay-court Grand Slam, Rune used his powerful forehand to stun some of the world’s best players, including No. 14 seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada in Round 1 and Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in Round 4, before falling to eventual finalist Casper Ruud in a four-set quarterfinal. In doing so, he became the first Danish man to reach the quarterfinals of any Grand Slam in the Open Era. He also cracked the ATP's Top 30 for the first time, just five or so months after first landing inside the Top 100.
“I beat the world No. 3 [Alexander Zverev] in Munich, and now the world No. 4 on an even bigger occasion,” Rune said during a Roland Garros press conference immediately following his fourth-round victory over Tsitsipas. He indicated that finding a way to relax was the key to his comeback: “I was very aggressive, taking my chances. At the end, it was a bit tight, but I think I managed very well.”
The Dane achieved remarkable results even before he turned pro in 2020. In his years on the ITF junior circuit, he earned 10 titles, including the boys' singles title at the 2019 French Open. He rocketed to junior world No. 1 later that year, in October.
Rune made his ATP debut at the clay-court Argentina Open last March, when he was just 17; after losing there in the first round, Rune entered the following week’s Chile Open as a qualifier. There, he defeated No. 2 seed Benoit Paire—the Frenchman who had been a constant in the ATP Top 75 for more than five straight years—and advanced to the quarterfinals.
It was a preview of what's come since. Clay courts have provided Rune with the most success: He earned his first ATP singles title in Munich, Germany this year, about a month before he ripped through the men’s singles draw in Paris.
After beating Italian veteran Fabio Fognini for his third career win at a Masters 1000 event, Rune lost his second-round match in Montreal 6-0, 6-3 to Spain’s veteran Pablo Carreno Busta, who went on to capture the title. A week later, he partnered Tsitsipas to reach the doubles semifinals at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, despite being beaten in the first round of singles by British No. 9 seed Cameron Norrie in a match that lasted more than two-and-a-half hours.
All these experiences are simply just new lessons for a rising star who has plenty of time to iron out his inconsistencies.
“If you drop your level, you can lose to everybody, because everybody can play,” Rune said in Paris. “I have strong belief in myself that if I really focus and play my tennis, I can beat almost everybody.”
