Is Holger Rune, who wants to win more French Open than Rafael Nadal, going to lift his first title in Paris this year?

Holger Rune is quite eager to accomplish more accolades as compared to Rafael Nadal while aiming his maiden title at Roland Garros.

Is Holger Rune, who wants to win more French Open than Rafael Nadal, going to lift his first title in Paris this year?

Rafael Nadal and Holger Rune( Credits: Sportsnet and Arab News)

Holger Rune has had tremendous success this year with his superb tennis. While reaching three clay finals and winning the Munich Open, the Dane is determined to return to the top rank as quickly as possible. With a stated goal of breaking Rafael Nadal’s Roland Garros record, Rune is definitely aiming to win the championship in Paris.

Rafael Nadal surprised the tennis world by withdrawing from this year’s French Open. For the first time since 2005, the 14-time Roland Garros winner will skip the major. While addressing the press conference, Nadal stated that he will focus on complete recovery while halting all activities for the year. The Spaniard further hinted at his comeback for the last performance in 2024.

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With Nadal’s impressive record at Roland Garros, Holger Rune is determined to surpass his set bar. This year, the World No.6 started an impressive campaign on the clay surface. He reached the back-to-back finals at the ATP Tours of Monte-Carlo and Munich Open. After his perfect victory in BMW Open, the Dane faced an early upset in Madrid at the hands of the home favorite, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. At the Italian Open, Rune became the youngest player to reach the finals after Rafael Nadal in 2006. However, he faced a straight sets defeat from the Russian player Daniil Medvedev.

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With the French Open starting on 28th May 2023, the Danish player has cited Paris as the ‘main goal’ of the clay season. The 20-year-old reached the quarter-finals at his main draw debut in last year’s Roland Garros, where he also won the junior title. With his 13-9 record against the Top 10 and a match-winning rate of 59.1%, Rune has entered the race of potential contenders of Roland Garros.

“As many of you guys know me now, I’m a very eager person to win titles. I’ve been close to. Hopefully I will learn from it. But…Paris is the main goal of the clay season. I think I had the matches that I needed to be as well-prepared as possible. Now it is the last small things I want to do better the next time I stay in these big matches,” Rune said at the press conference.

Rune reached the round of 16 in the Miami Open. However, he fell short of the praiseworthy performance of Taylor Fritz.

Also read: List of Broadcasters for the French Open 2023

Holger Rune lost the Italian Open title to Daniil Medvedev

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Image Credits: Norway Posts English

Holger Rune had an incredible performance at the Italian Open. The 20-year-old booked his third final of the ATP Tour and became the youngest player to reach the Rome finals after Rafael Nadal in 2006. However, his dream run ended, and Daniil Medvedev lifted his first Rome Open and sixth ATP Maters 1000 trophy with a straight sets win.

The Danish player overcame the challenge of Novak Djokovic after winning a thrilling quarter-finals match. His semi-final victory over Casper Ruud placed him at a 7-2 record against the Top 5 opponents. In his second Head2Head clash with the World No.2, Medvedev held patience in his rallies and achieved victory in an entertaining final. Rune earlier defeated the Russian in the quarter-finals of the Monte-Carlo Masters.

With Roland Garros’ main draw just days away, the Dane picked Medvedev as a potential contender but not an ‘overall’ favorite.

” I still think Novak (Djokovic) is the main favourite for the event. He’s the one with the most slams of who’s playing, the most experience. Then we have (Carlos) Alcaraz. We have Medvedev. We have a lot of guysI think if I have to pick one favourite, I’ll probably pick Novak. But again, it’s more open because we don’t have Rafa this year who has won 14 times. For sure (Medvedev) has been showing good signs in this clay season, playing better and better. For sure, I think he’s one of the favourites,” Rune said at the media conference.

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