Holger Rune has delayed his long-awaited return to the ATP Tour by withdrawing from Roland Garros and Hamburg.
Rune caused concern among tennis fans with his plans to play at Hamburg later this month, having ruptured his Achilles tendon in October.
The Dane hasn’t played since suffering from the serious injury in Stockholm, since which he has undergone an intense recovery program.
Rune planned to compete at the ATP 500 event in Hamburg later this month, along with Roland Garros shortly after, but he has now withdrawn from both.
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Holger Rune withdraws from Roland Garros and Hamburg
Rune has now confirmed his decision to skip the entire clay-court swing, writing on X: “Tough decision not to play the clay season, but the right one.
“Can’t wait to see you all on the grass.
“Thank you to everyone for your love and support throughout my rehab, see you in not too long.”
The clay-court swing is currently well underway, while the grass-court swing starts after Roland Garros, and comprises seven tournaments.
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Holger Rune makes smart decision to withdraw from Roland Garros
It is a very wise move from Rune, who could have done himself more harm than good by playing at Roland Garros, never mind Hamburg.
He clearly knows how well his recovery from injury is going right now, but it would be foolish to return too soon and risk doing further damage.
That was certainly possible given that he is only 23 years old and has plenty of time to claim more success in his career, but also because of the surface of the events.
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Both Hamburg and Roland Garros are played on clay, which is regarded by many as the most difficult of the three surfaces to compete on.
Understandably, Rune has dropped the ATP rankings amid his absence, which meant he would have been unseeded at the French Open.
But his return to full fitness is clearly more important than his ranking or anything else right now, with the Dane hopefully set to reach that stage by the time the grass-court swing arrives later this summer.
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