Unlike a year ago, Holger Rune will not compete at the upcoming ATP Finals. Holger missed the last train to qualify for the Turin, losing to Alexander Zverev in the Paris Masters semi-final and withdrawing from this week's ATP 250 event in Metz. The young Dane will wrap up the 2024 season ranked 13th, five places below his year-end position from 12 months ago. Rune has not won an ATP title since April last year, struggling to find his A-game or gather the right people in his coaching box after numerous changes.
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Holger's 2024 season
Holger could have enjoyed a better run in 2024. He reached the Brisbane final at the beginning of the year but failed to repeat that in the next ten months. Despite a similar score to the previous season, the Dane lacked notable results at the premium events. He delivered six victories at Majors, reaching the last 16 in Paris and London. Rune embraced an 18-9 score at the Masters 1000 level, reaching the semi-final in Cincinnati and Paris and adding two more quarter-finals. Holger skipped the Olympic Games due to a wrist injury and played the full calendar outside that setback. He failed to score two wins at eight tournaments and will try to improve his consistency in 2025 after collecting eight defeats against rivals outside the top-40.
The Dane wrapped up the previous year in the top-10, earning his first ATP Finals victory and making a promising start to the 2024 season. The young gun reached the final in Brisbane, falling to Grigor Dimitrov in two tight sets. He fell to Arthur Cazaux in the second round of the Australian Open, experiencing the first blow of the season. Holger retired against Borna Coric in Montpellier and suffered an early defeat in Rotterdam before entering the last four in Acapulco. Rune battled against Daniil Medvedev in the Indian Wells quarter-final, falling in straight sets before experiencing a terrible loss to Fabian Marozsan in Miami. Holger battled for two hours and 40 minutes against Jannik Sinner in Monte Carlo, fighting hard but falling in three sets.
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The Dane could not defend the Munich title, advancing to the semi-final but suffering another severe loss to Jan-Lennard Struff. Rune did not play well in Madrid and Rome, losing early and avoiding another at Roland Garros. The young gun reached the fourth round and fought well against Alexander Zverev, losing in five sets and ending his campaign. Holger met Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon fourth round, hitting the exit door in straight sets after failing to match the legend's level. He retired in the Hamburg quarter-final due to wrist issues and skipped the Olympic Games in Paris.
Holger returned in Toronto, losing to Alexander Zverev and missing a chance to reach a notable final in Cincinnati, with Frances Tiafoe halting him in the deciding tie break. Like in Melbourne, Rune experienced a heavy loss in New York, ending his US Open campaign in the first round and falling to world no. 160 Yasutaka Uchiyama in Hangzhou. The Danel played better in the final four events of the season. Arthur Fuls beat him in two tie breaks in Tokyo ahead of the fourth round in Shanghai. Holger wrapped up the year with the semi-final in Basel and Paris, battling hard but losing to Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Alexander Zverev.
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Rune's Paris Masters run
The 2022 champion ended his season at the Paris Masters, hoping to chase the title and keep his ATP Finals chances alive. Holger defeated Matteo Arnaldi in the first round and passed Alexander Bublik to enter the last 16. Rune battled past Arthur Cazaux and notched only his second top-10 win of the season against Alex de Minaur en route to the semi-final, his second at this level of the season. Holger played against Alexander Zverev for the third time this year and experienced a 6-3, 7-6 loss in an hour and 46 minutes, playing his last match of the season after losing chances to reach Turin. The German grabbed a break in the first set for an early advantage and served for the victory at 5-4 in the second. The Dane fought back and extended the battle before losing ground in the tie break.
Zverev produced more efficient numbers behind the first and second serve. World no. 3 dropped 17 points in 11 service games, defending two of three break points and missing a chance to seal the deal earlier. Holger could not follow that pace, feeling issues behind the second serve and suffering two breaks from five return opportunities presented to his opponent. The Dane had more service winners but lost ground from the baseline and at the net, finishing on a 26-27 ratio. Alexander ruled the shortest exchanges up to four strokes and outplayed his opponent in the most extended ones to seal the deal in style. Holger will try to make a fresh start in 2025 and improve his game, hoping to crack the top-5 again and chase notable titles.
