Holger Rune Maintains Optimism Of Developing a Game to Challenge Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz

With the opening round victory in Toronto, Holger Rune recently clinched his first hard-court win since reaching the Indian Wells final in March.

Holger Rune Maintains Optimism Of Developing a Game to Challenge Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune, Jannik Sinner (Image via X/The Tennis Letter, We Are Tennis)

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2025 has been a fairly decent year for Holger Rune, who re-entered the top 10 rankings after a year and ended a title drought of two years by winning the Barcelona Open. After a shocking opening round loss at Wimbledon, the Dane has been looking for ways to improve his game.

Earlier this month, he was seen practising with Andre Agassi, who is working with him in the capacity of a mentor, without being a part of his coaching team. Rune also hired Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic‘s ex-fitness coach Marco Panichi. After withdrawing from the Mubadala Citi DC Open due to a back injury, Rune will be hoping to make his comeback at the Canadian Open.

After his opening round match in Toronto, Rune spoke at the press conference about his aim to challenge World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz:

Consistently playing at that level does make a difference. The question is if very few players can reach their level and have the opportunity to beat them, and I believe so. This is something we have also seen in the past. Carlos had an excellent streak of many matches. They have managed to maintain a high level of consistency, which is very difficult and requires a lot of dedication…

Sinner and Alcaraz have dominated the sport over the last two years, sharing the last seven Grand Slam titles between themselves, making it very difficult for anyone to challenge their level consistently. Alcaraz was on a 24-match win streak across two surfaces, which was snapped by Sinner at the Wimbledon final. Rune further added:

That’s what I’m also working on because I definitely believe I have a good game that can, as I have shown in the past, challenge them and win matches against them. It is very interesting. They are the players you want to compete against in the most important finals. I feel that, in my case, the more often I can do that, the better my level will improve too.

Rune is at level with Alcaraz in his head-to-head record standing at 2-2. They last met at the Barcelona Open final, where Rune handed the Spaniard his sole defeat on clay this season. Rune has a 2-3 record over Sinner, with the Italian winning their last three matches.

Holger Rune will meet Alexandre Muller in the third round in Toronto

In the opening round of the Canadian Open, Holger Rune claimed his first hard-court victory since reaching the Indian Wells final in March, where he lost to Jack Draper. In Toronto, fifth-seed Rune hit 12 aces to Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard’s seven and did not face a break point.

The Dane’s serve was also pretty good, winning 87% points on first serve and 95% on second serve. He sealed the victory with a scoreline of 7-6 (9-7), 6-3, levelling his head-to-head record against the Frenchman to 1-1.

Holger Rune
Holger Rune (Image via X/ATP Tour)

The 22-year-old will face another Frenchman, Alexandre Muller in his next round in Toronto at the Motorola razr Grandstand Court. This marks their first ever meeting. Muller had defeated Miomir Kecmanovic in his previous round. The winner of the upcoming third round match will meet either Daniil Medvedev or defending champion Alexei Popyrin in the fourth round.

Rune will be looking to capitalize in the absence of several top ranked players from this tournament such as the likes of Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Jack Draper, and Novak Djokovic, which has left the draw wide open for perhaps a new Masters 1000 champion this year.

Also Read: Holger Rune Impressed By Novak Djokovic’s Ex-Fitness Coach Marco Panichi Experience After Teaming up with Him