Holger Rune admits why he was ‘stressed’ during the first set of his Barcelona Open win against Carlos Alcaraz

Follow us on Google Discover

Holger Rune had to overcome some obstacles to beat Carlos Alcaraz in the Barcelona Open final.

Rune took inspiration from Novak Djokovic to win the Barcelona Open title, which is his first ATP tournament victory in two years.

This was a big turnaround for the Dane from last week, when Rune retired in Monte Carlo in his only match at the tournament.

Despite beating Alcaraz in straight sets in the Barcelona Open final, Rune has revealed that it was anything but plain-sailing for him.

Holger Rune admits why he was stressed against Carlos Alcaraz

Rune beat Alcaraz, 7-6(6) 6-2, in the Barcelona Open final after playing for one hour and 37 minutes on Pista Rafa Nadal.

The first set was a very close fought affair, with Alcaraz actually taking the early break advantage.

When speaking in his on-court interview in the immediate aftermath of the final, Rune admitted that he was initially left a bit stressed by his opponent, but managed to find his way into the match.

“It means the world, it was such a great match,” Rune said about his victory. “I think, you know, in the beginning I was a bit stressed, because Carlos can obviously play big time tennis and you know I had to breathe a lot and find my rhythm.

“I think you know after the beginning when he broke me, after that I got more into the match and I started to play my tennis and I think it was a big first set, first set was extremely important you know.

“I know it feels to lose those kind of sets, and for me it was super important to win it and gain the momentum, so I am so proud of myself.”

After Rune converted his fifth set point, the gap between the two players started to show, with Alcaraz appearing to struggle physically.

What will happen to Holger Rune’s ranking now?

After winning his first ATP 500 title, Rune will climb four places in the rankings and confirm his place back inside the world’s top 10 at world number nine.

Rune left the top 10 in the ATP rankings in April 2024, but has shown some promising signs already this season of returning to the player that has a career-high of world number four.

This includes Rune reaching the Indian Wells final last month, before lifting the prestigious title in Barcelona.

The 21-year-old only has 300 points to defend throughout the clay court season, giving Rune a good opportunity to improve on his recent progress even further.

While Rune has climbed back into the top 10, Alcaraz will slip back down to world number three after Alexander Zverev triumphed in Munich.