Roland-Garros – He is six days older than Alcaraz and the respect of Djokovic: Holer Rune, the other nugget

The Philippe-Chatrier court welcomed him with a few whistles, all acquired as he was for the cause of Hugo Gaston on Saturday. He accompanied him back to the locker room with the honors due to the performance he had just achieved. Holger Rune is in the round of 16 at Roland-Garros, a first in a Grand Slam for him, and if he will not start as the favorite against the outgoing finalist, Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Greek will have to be wary of the other nugget under 20 years old who is progressing in the ATP rankings in the shadow of Carlos Alcaraz.

Alcaraz, a model?

Thinking cushioned in today’s tennis can quickly lead you to have Carlos Alcaraz in mind. The Dane shares a lot with the Spaniard, starting with a year of birth (2003). April 29 for Rune, May 5 for Alcaraz, only six days younger. But if the second bursts the screen to the point of having offered two Masters 1000 (Miami and Madrid) and being cited among the favorites of Roland-Garros, the other takes a little more time. Before the second Grand Slam of the season, Holger Rune was ranked 40th in the world and only has an ATP 250 to his name (Munich).

However, there is one thing in Rune’s CV that Alcaraz does not have: the junior title at Roland-Garros (2019) in a tournament where the Spaniard was knocked out in the 1st round. The fact remains that he climbed the following levels much faster and that this Parisian round of 16 was the first blow made by Rune who opened the table by sending Denis Shapovalov home in the 1st round.

“I’m happy, that’s what I’m working for: to be able to play in the most important tournamentsRune had said after this victory. I try to improve myself every day and do things a little better than the day before. It helps me tremendously. Last year, in Lisbon, I was very far from being able to play this kind of match.”

During Roland 2021, Rune was playing… a Challenger

Where were you during Roland-Garros 2021? Rune remembers it, he was competing in a Challenger in Oeiras, in the suburbs of Lisbon. Tournament during which he had fallen in the final against the Portuguese, Gastao Elias. At the end of this week, he was ranked 291st in the world. Next Monday, he will be at the gates of the Top 30 (31st at worst). The rest of his season notably led him to the first round of the US Open against a certain Novak Djokovic who began his quest, ultimately in vain, for the calendar Grand Slam.

A match that Holger Rune had finished with cramps, not without first stealing a set from the undisputed master of the circuit. If he had made people smile by entering the court with an Ikea bag on his shoulder, his composure had allowed him not to lower his eyes in front of Djokovic. “He deserves applausehad judged his rival for a day. It’s a shame he had to go through this. He played well in the second set when it counted. […] He’ll come back stronger and I’m sure we’ll see him a lot in the future.” On Twitter, the Serb continued the tribute.

After Shapovalov, Laaksonen and therefore Gaston, Holger Rune will be opposed to another type of test in the round of 16. Stefanos Tsitsipas, the man who led two sets to nothing against Novak Djokovic in the final last year, stands in front of him. At the time of the draw, the Greek had been hailed as relatively lucky since neither Djoko, nor Nadal, nor Alcaraz were in his half of the table. To be sure, he had still targeted a few dangerous opponents on his way to the final. Was Holger Rune one of them? Only he knows it but he would have every reason to be wary of the other “teenager” of the Top 50.