Seeded number 4, Holger Rune fell from a height this Monday evening at the US Open, beaten in the first round by the Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena in four sets (3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 2- 6). The Danish player suffered his sixth consecutive defeat on the tough American, his last success dating back to the Wimbledon round of 16 against the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. Since mid-July, the former protege of Patrick Mouratoglou drags physical glitches that prevent him from evolving at his best level. Yesterday again, he grimaced then called the doctor for knee pain, proof of his difficulties at the time. Expected in the semi-final against the ogre Novak Djokovic (seed number 2), Rune will therefore not go further at Flushing Meadows, after two consecutive quarter-finals in the Grand Slam, at Roland-Garros and on the grass. Londoner.

Also released as soon as he entered the Masters 1000 in Toronto then Cincinnati (defeat against Giron then abandonment in front of McDonald), the 20-year-old player completely missed out on his American tour. “As you know, I had some setbacks after the Toronto and Cincy tournaments, where I had to give up. It’s not the best preparation, he conceded at a press conference following his elimination on Monday. So it’s hard, you know, to know what to believe before you go into big tournaments like this. I am not satisfied with the result, of course, but also with my tennis. There is only one way to do it, and that is to work. “Time to work and get back in shape, the Dane will have some in the coming weeks before the last major meetings of the season. We should soon find him, like all the big names on the circuit, in Shanghai then at the Rolex Paris Masters, where he brilliantly won last year after an epic match against Djokovic.