Holger Rune suffered another first round exit at the Shanghai Masters as he looks to continue to try and return from an ACL injury he suffered last October.
Rune returned to action with two victories at the Davis Cup for Denmark, against Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov and Illiyan Radulov, but he’s fared less successfully on the ATP Tour.
The Dane has been beaten in the first round of the China Open and the Shanghai Masters, losing to Kyrian Jacquet and Daniel Altmaier, respectively.
The star is currently languishing in the ATP Tour rankings as a result, but Carlos Alcaraz has backed Rune to turn his fortunes around following his injury.
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“Obviously, it’s a slow process. The injury he had is really complicated because movement is practically everything in tennis. His style depends on moving well around the court and covering as much space as possible,” said Alcaraz at the Shanghai Masters.
“We know he might miss some matches now, but personally, I’m very happy to see him back on the court. We trained together when he came to Murcia for a week, and I was able to see him play well.
“Now it’s just a matter of getting into more matches and regaining his competitive rhythm, which is what’s really important. I wish him all the best; I’m happy he’s back on the tour.”
The Spaniard finally concluded: “He has to be patient because it’s going to be a slow process, but he’ll get to where he wants to be.”
Alcaraz knows a thing or two about returning from injury, but Rune missed far more months of action thanks to his knee injury.
The Dane was out for 11 months, while Alcaraz only missed four and a half months of action.
Nevertheless, Alcaraz has seen up close just what Rune has been able to do on a tennis court recently.
The two men trained together in Murcia ahead of the US Open and the Dane even defeated the star on several occasions during practice matches.
Considering how well Alcaraz has fared on the ATP Tour upon his return, at the US Open, the Laver Cup, and the Japan Open, that fares very well for Rune.
While there will be teething problems for sure for the Dane, he has all the capabilities to return to winning ways before the 2026 season is finished.
Rune is expected to play the Swiss Indoors, the Paris Masters, and the Stockholm Open before the season is finished, as well as a UTS event in Gothenberg at the end of the year.
