Holger Rune on the revelations of injury

In his first interview since rupturing his Achilles, Rune tells me, “Maybe this is the slap in the face I needed to take my talent seriously.”

Photo by Alexander Aguiar

It’s been almost a month to the day since Holger Rune tore his Achilles tendon and sent shockwaves through a tennis community that was already reckoning with calendar fatigue and rampant injuries. Playing up a set and on break point at 2-2 in the second against Ugo Humbert in the semi-finals at the Stockholm Open, his Achilles ruptured as if out of nowhere during a routine rally. It was so alarming that, unlike the many tennis injuries that get little attention throughout the year, it led to many of his peers—including Jack Draper, Taylor Fritz, and Alexander Bublik—speaking out about the toll the tour takes on their bodies and the need for reform.

For Rune, it was a shocking and devastating end not just to a tournament he was close to making the final in, but to the season, and likely the next one too. He went on to have immediate surgery in Denmark where he recuperated for two weeks before flying home to Monte Carlo.

The 22-year-old Dane has been hailed as one of the most promising players of his generation after an early breakout that saw him winning the Rolex Maris Masters 1000 in 2022 at the age of 19, beating five top-10 players in a row including Novak Djokovic in the final. But, in the wake of inconsistent results since then, he’s also someone who many commentators and fans feel has not yet lived up to his potential.

When I spoke to Rune last week about how he’s doing since the injury, it became clear that he’s now wrestling with this sentiment himself and using it as fuel for his recovery. Amid the stacked rehab program he’s been sharing with fans on Instagram, I asked him why he thinks his injury struck such a chord, how he’s managed to put a positive spin on the situation, the current prognosis, and the most important realization he’s had from this period so far.