The 19-year-old Holger Rune should have been the top seed at the next week’s NextGen ATP Finals in Milan. Instead, Holger enjoyed an incredible week at the Paris Masters and will not fight for the crown he missed 12 months ago.
Holger has been on a roll this fall, playing in four consecutive indoor ATP finals and winning titles in Stockholm and Paris! The young Dane defeated five top-10 rivals in a row in Paris to lift his first Masters 1000 crown and become the fourth-youngest champion at the premium ATP series.
With those 1000 points, Holger will crack the top-10 on Monday and travel to Turin as the ATP Finals first alternate. World no. 1 Carlos Alcaraz will not play in Turin, and Rune hopes for another withdrawal to get a chance to compete at the prestigious event at such a young age.
Paris Masters champion Holger Rune withdrew from the NextGen ATP Finals.
Holger played the NextGen ATP Finals in Milan, winning one round-robin match and failing to pass the group stage. At this point, he is not interested in returning there, especially after an epic victory in the Paris Masters final.
Seeking the most notable title of his young career, Rune toppled a six-time Paris Masters winner Djokovic in thrilling five sets. Previously, the Dane saved match points against Stan Wawrinka in the first round and defeated four top-10 rivals in a row to enter the title clash.
Holger bested Novak 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in two hours and 33 minutes to join the history books as the only player outside the ATP Finals with five top-10 wins at a single event. Djokovic won five points more than Rune, but not the crucial ones.
Holger fended off ten out of 12 break chances and broke Novak three times from as many opportunities to emerge at the top and start a massive celebration. Rune fired 43 winners and 33 unforced errors, matching the rival’s pace and defending six break points in the encounter’s last game to get the job done before the tie break.
Djokovic had a massive advantage in the shortest range up to four strokes. However, the young gun erased the deficit in the more extended ones, taming his strokes nicely and finding a way to dethrone the most successful player at this event.
Rune is the youngest champion in Paris since Boris Becker in 1986, crowning his meteoric rise with a notable crown and gathering a boost ahead of 2023.