Holger Rune has claimed his 50th Tour-level win on clay after beating world No.2 Carlos Alcaraz to win the Barcelona Open for the first time.
The 21-year-old remained relaxed and composed throughout his 7-6(6), 6-2, triumph over the home favorite, who was seeking to claim his third trophy at the tournament. It is the first time since Rome 2023 that Rune has beaten a player currently ranked in the world’s top five. Coming into the final he had suffered 13 consecutive losses to such opponents.
“It means the world,” Rune said of winning the Barcelona trophy.
“It was such a great match. I think in the beginning I was a bit stressed because Carlos was playing big-time tennis.
“I had to breathe a lot and find my rhythm. After he broke me, I think I got more into the match and I played all my tennis. It was a big battle in the first set.
“The first set was extremely important. I know how it feels to lose this kind of set. It was super important to win it and gain the momentum. I’m so proud of myself.”
Taking on two-time champion Alcaraz on home territory, Rune held his nerve throughout a tense opening set where he saw chances come and go. After fighting back from a break down to draw level at 3-3, the Dane saw a series of set-point opportunities come and go. He failed to convert two chances when leading 5-4 and then another two in the tiebreaker. Eventually, it was fifth time lucky for Rune who hit a powerful forehand return that his rival returned out.
The battle continued into the second frame where this time it was Alcaraz’s turn to miss opportunities with the top seed failing to convert a duo of break points to lead 2-0. To add to the drama, shortly afterward he departed the court for a medical timeout for treatment on his upper right leg. When play resulted, back-to-back forehand errors from a weary Alcaraz handed Rune a vital break to move him to three games from victory.
A clinical Rune continued to stick to his game plan and illustrated a high level of maturity on the court as he stormed to a game from victory. Serving for the title, he closed the match out on his first championship point with the help of another Alcaraz mistake.
Speaking about his performance, Rune said he drew inspiration from Novak Djokovic’s triumph over Alcaraz at last year’s Olympic Games which was held at Roland Garros.
“At the beginning of the first set, when I got broken, I thought to myself, ‘Wow, how can I beat him?’ He said.
“Then I thought to myself, I don’t need to try to hit every shot on the line.
“What did Novak do when he beat him? I kind of played it in my mind, the Olympic final. I was watching it when they played an amazing match.
“I thought to myself, let’s try to play that kind of style, really make him play a lot of balls and I’m very happy.”
It remains to be seen how serious Alcaraz’s leg injury is with the Madrid Masters getting underway next week. He was on a nine-match winning run after winning the Monte Carlo Masters earlier this month.
“We have been seeing each other (in the sport) since we were 12 years old, time flies,” Alcaraz said to Rune.
“I am really happy to see us in this position. How far we have been together. Congratulations and keep going.”
“It’s been a lot of work from the whole team to get me in the right shape to be here this week,’ He later added when speaking in Spanish.
Rune will return into the world’s top 10 on Monday in ninth place.
