At Wimbledon,
In November 2021, Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune shared the poster for the Next Gen ATP Finals in Turin. The Youth Masters reserved for players under the age of 21. The Spaniard had won against the Dane during the group stage, before winning the event. On the big circuit, the two budding champions only faced each other once. And their first duel left a taste of unfinished business. At the last Rolex Paris Masters, Carlos Alcaraz had to retire in the quarterfinals, in the second set at 6-3, 6-6, due to an abdominal injury.
The brown Alcaraz walks his smile constantly and does not make waves. Always fair on the pitch and often slick in front of the mics, he’s the epitome of the ‘nice guy’. On the court, it is a tornado with dazzling accelerations. The blond Rune, cap turned upside down, pugnacious and often “bad boy” on the court, likes to put on the villain’s costume. The two phenomena have known each other for a long time. In 2017, they appeared in the painting of the Petits As de Tarbes. In singles, the Dane was eliminated in the semi-finals, the Spaniard lost in the 8th. And they had shared the court in doubles and had been eliminated in the semi-finals.
One, Holger Rune, moved from No. 103 in the world to the top 10 in 2022 (ranking here). The other, Carlos Alcaraz, has already settled on the roof of world tennis. His coronation at the US Open, a title accompanied by the place of world No. 1 (the youngest in history) propelled him to the rank of phenomenon. In 2023, with five titles in his pocket (including two Masters 1000, four in career) and already 44 victories (only Daniil Medvedev has done better with 45 successes), the kid from Murcia confirms that he represents the future of tennis well. At the last Rolex Paris Masters, Rune defeated five top 10 players, including Novak Djokovic in the final to win his best title to date. In 2023, the Dane again reached the final of two Masters 1000, but had to surrender in the final in Monte-Carlo and Rome.
At Wimbledon, the world number one, who is playing the London Grand Slam for the third time, was stopped in the round of 16 last year by Jannik Sinner, while the Dane, for his first participation, succumbed from the start, against Marcos Giron. Monday faller of Matteo Berrettini in four sets, the Spaniard confirmed that he had a green foot, he who won at Queen’s in preparation for Wimbledon. Rune also learns very quickly. The Dane overcame the experienced Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. All after coming within a point of elimination against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the previous round, the 6th in the world invites himself for the third time in his career to the table of Grand Slam quarter-finalists.
Carlos Alcaraz: “I’m very excited about this game. We shared a lot of good times. We know each other very well and we have been playing together since we were 12 years old. I saw him for the first time in a tournament in Mallorca during Tennis Europe under 12, the first tournament we played together. We had exchanged. If I had one weapon to take from him, it would be his backhand. I’m not saying my backhand is bad, no. But I think he has a very good backhand.”
Holger Rune: “To be able to play a quarter-final against a player of the same age, at the top of the ranking, it’s an incredible feeling. I’m looking forward to this game. I even ticked it off when I was in the first round. I will give my all. I know it’s a great chance for me to be in the quarters, to go far in the tournament. I’ll try to grab it because we don’t get it every week. To be honest, I don’t feel like I’m going very fast when I see Alcaraz doing even better than me. He has always been a passionate player on the pitch, with a lot of energy. In juniors too, he had a big forehand. I think he is the same, but much better today”.