Photo Source: TTV
Holger Rune entered Sunday’s final carrying a 13-match losing streak against the Top-5 (after winning seven of his first eight such matchups); Carlos Alcaraz, on the other hand, was riding a 14-match winning streak in Barcelona as he angled for his third title at the Real Club de Barcelona.
It was obvious who the favorite was, but Rune had other ideas.
In the youngest Barcelona by combined age since 2006, Rune played a pitch-perfect final and pulled away from Alcaraz to earn a 7-6(6), 6-2 victory for his fifth career title, and first since 2023.
“I’m very happy I stayed composed when it really mattered,” Rune said on court after his win. The Dane, who also notched his 50th career win on clay as improved to 2-2 lifetime against Alcaraz, had to work extremely hard to get over the hump.
There were numerous moments where he could have become frustrated in the first set and a half, but he displayed great composure and never dropped his level as he notched a victory that also propels him back into the Top-10 for the first time in just over a year.
There was a trade of breaks in game five and six, that left the pair level at three-all. Rune then started to penetrate the game of Alcaraz as he closed in on the set, but the Spaniard fought him off – at least for a while.
When Rune’s fourth set point went begging, after Alcaraz rallied out of his backhand corner, eventually using the inside-out forehand to save it, it was hard not to think that the Spaniard would soon take over.
The opposite occurred.
Rune soon earned a fifth set point with more aggressive play – serve-plus-forehand winner – and finally forced an Alcaraz forehand long on the next point to lock up the set in 51 minutes.
“In the beginning, I was a little bit stressed, because Carlos obviously plays big-time tennis,” Rune said. “I had to breathe a lot and find my rhythm. After he broke me, I got more into the match and played my tennis. The first set was a big battle, it was super important to win it and gain the momentum. I’m so proud of myself.”
The second set was similarly close, even after Alcaraz left the court to have an upper leg injury looked at by medical staff after three games. Rune broke through for 3-2 and saved all four break points he faced to get to the consolidation for 4-2.
It was time for the Dane to pull away. He raced away with the final four games to close out the victory in one hour and 32 minutes.
“Coming from Monte-Carlo, you had to retire,” Alcaraz told his rival, referring to the Dane’s retirement due to food poisoning last week in the Principality. “Coming here and showing a great effort to make the people enjoy watching tennis, I appreciate that. We’ve been seeing each other since [we were] 12 years old. Time flies. I’m really happy to see us in this position, how far we’ve come. Keep going.”