Holger Rune is currently out injured and isn’t expected to return for quite some time…
Denmark’s Rune tore his Achilles tendon at the Stockholm Open in October, bringing his 2025 season to a close.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Rune required surgery and will likely spend a large part of 2026 on the sidelines as a result.
He is currently ranked 15th in the world and beat Carlos Alcaraz in Barcelona to pick up his fifth career title in April.
However, he hasn’t quite lived up to the expectations many had for him a few years back.
During the latest episode of ‘Nothing Major‘, former American ATP pro Steve Johnson shared his theory on why Rune has struggled.
Steve Johnson thinks Holger Rune’s Paris Masters title in 2022 set unrealistic expectations
Discussing whether a player can pick up a ‘bad win’ with his co-hosts, John Isner and Sam Querrey, Johnson said this.
“There’s no such thing as a bad win. I do think any match you win, you get a chance; even if you play poorly, you get a chance the next day,” he said.
“But I think sometimes a bad series of wins, sometimes can be more troubling.
“Take Holger Rune in ’22, when he’s 19 years old, he wins Paris, that just throws him more into the spotlight, he’s now expected to win these Masters series because he did it at such a young age, and it’s hard to live up to those expectations week in and week out.”
Rune stunned the tennis world in the French capital three years ago, defeating five top-10 players en route to the biggest title of his career.
Holger Rune at the 2022 Paris Masters
- 2022 Paris Masters 1R [WIN] vs Stan Wawrinka, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6
- 2022 Paris Masters 2R [WIN] vs (10) Hubert Hurkacz, 7-5, 6-1
- 2022 Paris Masters 3R [WIN] vs (7) Andrey Rublev, 6-4, 7-5
- 2022 Paris Masters QF [WIN] vs (1) Carlos Alcaraz, 6-3, 6-6 (RET)
- 2022 Paris Masters SF [WIN] vs (8) Felix Auger-Aliassime, 6-4, 6-2
- 2022 Paris Masters F [WIN] vs (6) Novak Djokovic, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
Taking down the legendary Novak Djokovic in the final, Rune became the third youngest Masters 1000 champion ever.
“I think if he lost to Novak [Djokovic] in the finals there, he maybe doesn’t have the expectation the last couple of years that he had,” added Johnson.
“Obviously, now that he’s hurt and out for the next year, that’s a real big bummer.
“I know it sounds crazy, but that’s a lot worse, because you’re at the forefront of the spotlight, you beat Novak, a Masters series title as a teenager.
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“That’s hard to deal with, I mean, I would have killed for a Masters series title… but no single win is a bad win.”
Rune is now fully focused on returning from his injury and has posted several videos to social media showcasing his recovery.
However, some have argued that Rune is doing too much, too soon, and that he is risking further injury.
Is Holger Rune going too quickly with his recovery?
It remains to be seen whether we will see Rune on court in 2026, but fans of the Dane will certainly hope so!
What did Sam Querrey and John Isner say about ‘bad wins’?
Agreeing with their co-host, Querrey and Isner didn’t think there was such a thing as a bad win either.
“I don’t think there is such a thing as a bad win, especially if you win, and win playing poorly, it should free you up for the rest of the tournament,” said Isner.
“So often times, if you win an ugly match early on, you do tend to play better as that tournament progresses.
“So sometimes a bad/ugly win can really help you as that tournament goes on.
“During the course of the match, it’s miserable. If you’re playing poorly and you’ve got some angst on the court and you’re not on it that day, but if you get through that match, any win is a good win, in my mind, for sure.”
Querrey also suggested that a tough win early on in a tournament can actually help.
“I agree, I feel like sometimes when you played ugly and won, the next round, you played a great match,” he said.
“It’s weird how in tennis that can work, where on Monday, you can not play well, and then on Tuesday, you’re like a different tennis player.
“It sometimes almost doesn’t make sense that the same guy can be so much better or so much worse day to day.
“I’m sure you guys have won tournaments, but if you go back to the first or second round, you played awful.”
Both players certainly knew how to win tournaments during their careers, picking up 26 titles between them.
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