Holger Rune made a successful return to tennis at the Davis Cup after 11 months out of action.
The Dane picked up victories against Grigor Dimitrov and Illiyan Radulov to help Denmark defeat Bulgaria in their World Group I play-off tie.
Rune had not played competitively since the the 2025 Stockholm Open last October, when he suffered an ACL injury in his semi final match against Ugo Humbert.
Despite his inactivity on the ATP Tour, Rune has been watching with an eagle-eye about the happenings at the very top of men’s tennis.
Speaking at the Davis Cup, Rune admitted that he was impressed by what he saw from the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour.
“I think that, to this day, we haven’t seen players as consistent at the top of the rankings as Alcaraz, Sinner, and Zverev. I don’t see them as any more or less vulnerable than before my injury,” said Rune.
The Dane also confirmed when he would be back in action following his successful return at the Davis Cup.
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“I’ll play my first ATP tournament in Tokyo. It’s a fantastic tournament and I’m looking forward to going back there,” said the current world No 185.
“After that will come Shanghai, Basel, Paris, and Stockholm . After that, I’ll take stock with my team and work on the aspects I need to improve for Australia.”
Rune entered the 2025 Japan Open as the third seed last year and he reached the quarter finals of the event, so he will be defending a fair chunk of ranking points.
The Dane picked up victories against Hamad Medjedovic and Ethan Quinn before losing in straight sets to Jenson Brooksby at the Tokyo tournament.
The star should rocket back up the rankings judging from his Davis Cup displays and it is quite clear what he should be focusing on before the end of the season.
Rune should be hoping to get back inside the top 100 of the ATP Tour rankings before the Australian Open comes back around to kickstart the 2027 season.
Should he manage to do that, it would mean that he does not have to go through qualifying for the first Grand Slam of the 2027 season.
That could be pivotal for Rune’s start of the 2027 season and he still has plenty of tournaments to try and pick up some much-needed ranking points.
Having beaten a player of Dimitrov’s quality, who reached the quarter finals of Wimbledon earlier this year, he should have what it takes to climb 18 places in the ATP Tour rankings.
