Holger Rune’s management says there are currently no concerns that his latest injury setback could have long-term consequences.
Rune, who is the top seed at this week’s Open Sud de France in Montpellier, was forced to retire from his semi-final clash against Borna Coric on Saturday. The Dane was trailing the match 3-6, 1-4, before deciding to call it quits due to a right forearm injury. It is the first time he has retired from a Tour-level match since the Cincinnati Masters last summer.
Anke Rune, who is the mother and manager of Rune, has told TV2 that the world No.7 was feeling soreness in the area before taking on Coric and the team agreed that he should stop playing if the pain did not ease after treatment. Rune was booed by the crowd when he decided to retire with Coric just two games away from victory.
“His elbow/forearm was already sore yesterday (Friday) and the agreement was that if he felt it in the elbow in battle, and it did not relieve by treating the muscle, he should stop,” Anke told TV2.
“There is some irritation that clearly needs to be calmed down with some rest. Of course, you have to take your body’s signals seriously.” She added.
The setback comes after what has been a mixed start to the season for Rune. At the Brisbane International, he reached his ninth Tour final before losing in straight sets to Grigor Dimitrov. Then at the Australian Open, he suffered a surprise second round exit. In Montpellier, he beat Spanish qualifier Pablo Llamas Ruiz and Michael Mmoh before playing Coric.
Rune is scheduled to return to competitive action at the Rotterdam Open which will get underway on February 12th. Other players who have entered to play the event are Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev.
Meanwhile, in Montpellier Coric will play Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik for the title on Sunday.
