Danish Davis Cup Captain Shares What’s ‘Quite Insane’ About Holger Rune: “I’m Still Incredibly Impressed”

Holger Rune is currently undergoing rehabilitation and hasn’t competed in a tournament since the 2025 Stockholm Open. He ruptured his Achilles tendon during the semifinal match against the eventual runner-up, Ugo Humbert.

After the surgery, Rune started posting regular updates about his recovery. His rehabilitation has been going smoothly (if his time in Doha amid the conflict in the Middle East is ignored).

While the tennis world is eagerly waiting for his comeback, Denmark’s Davis Cup captain, Frederik Lochte Nielsen, heaped some praise on the talented youngster.

Well, Holger is wild. I already knew that from the Corona period. The entire tennis world shut down, and he didn’t slow down for a millisecond. That’s also why he has become as good as he is. He has something extraordinary and an incredible fighting spirit and willpower. It’s almost as if the more people tell him it can’t be done, the more he proves that it will succeed.

Frederik Lochte Nielsen told Spilxperten

Rune has never made it past the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam tournaments, reaching the last eight only thrice in his career. But he has one Big Title to his name, the 2022 Paris Masters, which he captured by defeating 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.

He has also made three more finals at this level, last reaching it at the 2025 Indian Wells, losing the title to Jack Draper.

He has the mental endurance to go through what he has gone through, but it’s still quite insane. You can’t take that for granted; it’s really impressive. I’m not that surprised by it, but I’m still incredibly impressed. It’s a blow to the face to receive, and it’s a long process you have to go through. It can be difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel in the beginning, but he is simply built a bit differently.

Frederik Lochte Nielsen added

Last year, Rune played two finals. After losing the Indian Wells Masters, he beat Carlos Alcaraz in the title clash of the Barcelona Open.

Steve Johnson warns Holger Rune not to rush his comeback

Steve Johnson, during the Nothing Major Show, is worried about Holger Rune because the Dane has confirmed that he will be making his comeback at the Hamburg Open, an ATP 500 tournament on clay, which is set to start on May 17. Johnson said Rune is still young and should take his time in recovering completely. He warned the 22-year-old that rushing his return could aggravate his injury.

This is awful. I am not a doctor, I want this abundantly clear, but seven months from a torn Achilles, I don’t care if it was partially torn. Nobody has ever done it. We are seven months, and nobody has ever done this. We are in a sport where you better use your legs and be full go and believe 100 per cent that you are going to be fine. This seems like a bad idea from whoever is giving him this thought to go and play Hamburg.

Rune is the winner of five singles titles, three of which he lifted on clay: the 2022 and 2023 Munich Open and last year’s Barcelona Open. This year in Hamburg, Flavio Cobolli will play as the defending champion. Last year, he defeated Andrey Rublev.

Because of his injury, Rune, who reached his career-best ranking in 2023, is on the verge of dropping out of the top 40. He currently stands in 27th position but has already dropped to 39th in the live rankings due to his absence from the ongoing Barcelona Open.

Also read: Thomas Enqvist Shares Plans for Matteo Berrettini After the Italian’s Resurgence in Monte Carl

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