Will Holger Rune will measure up, again? Last year he won a lot of terrific matches, but in 2024, he has slipped. Yet he does say that he was close at times, and now, he wants to re-do it and create it again.
He is playing in the Hamburg Open, and the 21-year-old eventually he will try to win a Grand Slam for the first time, but he has to prove it.
“It’s been said many times that the difference between winning and losing a match is so small when you look at how few points separate players in a single match. Against [Alexander] Zverev (at the French Open), I was a few points away from winning, and against Novak [Djokovic at Wimbledon], I wasn’t close, but at the same time, I had chances to put him under pressure in the 2nd set,” he said.
“For me, it’s about converting things from the practice court into matches so I can perform even better.”
It was close at Roland Garros, when he played against Zverev, and it went into the fifth set. It was pretty darn close, but the German has more experience. However, the Denmark i had a terrific season last year when he became No. 4. He actually went into the final at Rome, and he almost won as he upset Djokovic, and Casper Ruud, but finally, he lost verses Daniil Medvedev. Even before that, on clay, he reached into the ATP Monte-Carlo, and again, he did go into the final, when he stunted the now No. 1 Jannik Sinner, but he lost versus Andrey Rublev. Rune was sharply moving ahead, but he backed off, so now he has to try and win it at the Hamburg Open.
Speaking of which, the Chinese Zhizhen Zhang, is there, hoping to do deep.
The 27-year-old has been struggling for some years, but this season, he has improved. Currently, he is ranked No. 34, and soon, he can go into the top 30, which would be huge. He has always been consistent, but now he is more aggressive.
“ Well, the journey as a player is quite long, so be patient. Pay attention to your physicality, don´t be injured and be patient, ” Zhang said. “Injuries are the biggest enemy ever, but keep going and never give up. Then the result will be there in the end. The last 12 months have been quite impressive for me, because I didn’t expect that. I was ranked around 70 last year, and if you told me last year, I would be where I am today, I wouldn’t have believed you.”