Holger Rune won his first ATP title in two years at the Barcelona Open after beating Carlos Alcaraz in the final.
Rune had suffered food poisoning the week before, that subsequently forced him to retire from his only match at the Monte Carlo Masters.
However, after overcoming his illness, Rune beat the likes of Alcaraz, Karen Khachanov and Casper Ruud en route to winning the first ATP 500 title of his career.
The Dane won the final in straight sets, with Rune using Novak Djokovic as inspiration to help lift the prestigious Barcelona Open title.
Andy Roddick suggests he has completely changed his opinion about Holger Rune
Someone who was particularly impressed with Rune in Barcelona is former world number one Andy Roddick, and has now admitted that his opinion about the 21-year-old has changed following the Barcelona Open final.
However, when speaking on his podcast, Roddick claimed that this makes no difference to him in terms of how he views Alcaraz, who was struggling physically in the second set of the final.
“A big week for Holger Rune,” said Roddick. “I do not care that Carlos lost at all. He is the out and out favourite for Roland Garros. Him losing to Rune in the finals of Barcelona doesn’t change a thing. Win or lose.
“It does change the way I view Rune’s trajectory. I think him winning that tournament is a way bigger deal than Carlos losing it. It doesn’t matter about Carlos. I think it’s a big, big deal for Rune.
“The thing I loved watching Rune is that he wasn’t in a rush to make something happen. He is fast. He is strong. He was settling into 20 or 30 ball rallies against Casper and against Carlos and going come through me, I am going to be physical with you. That is not a gear I have seen with Holger Rune before.
“If he is not playing well, that normally means he is struggling. But this gave him a chance to get into the tournament and he just kind of wore people down, he wasn’t scared to get into that long 30 ball rally.
“He wasn’t taking a random pop shot on the sixth ball to make something happen. He was using his physicality and his gifts. That I felt was amazing.”
Holger Rune’s potential run to the Madrid Open title
There is little time to celebrate for Rune, who now switches his attention to the high altitude in Madrid.
The Madrid Open has not been the best tournament for Rune in his two previous appearances, as he has only won two of his four matches.
Rune will begin his tournament with a tricky opener against either Flavio Cobolli or Fabian Marozsan.
Some of the other threats in his quarter of the draw include Daniil Medvedev, 2024 Madrid Open finalist Felix Auger-Aliassime and Brandon Nakashima.
If Rune is to set up a rematch with Alcaraz, then both players will need to reach the Madrid Open final.
| Madrid Open 2025 | Holger Rune’s Potential Opponent |
| First Round | Receives a bye as the eighth seed |
| Second Round | Flavio Cobolli/Fabian Marozsan |
| Third Round | Brandon Nakashima (31)/Sebastian Ofner |
| Fourth Round | Daniil Medvedev (9)/Felix Auger-Aliassime (18) |
| Quarter-final | Taylor Fritz (3)/Casper Ruud (14)/Sebastian Korda (23)/Hubert Hurkacz (27) |
| Semi-final | Alexander Zverev (1)/Andrey Rublev (7)/Ben Shelton (12)/Arthur Fils (13) |
| Final | Carlos Alcaraz (2)/Novak Djokovic (4)/Jack Draper (5)/Alex de Minaur (6) |
The ATP main draw at the Madrid Open will get underway on Wednesday April 23.
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