Rune: ‘I Gave It My All’

Teenager Holger Rune fell just short of capturing his second ATP Masters 1000 title on Sunday, when he lost against Andrey Rublev in the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters final. Despite his defeat, the Dane is proud of his efforts at the clay-court event.

“I obviously feel like it was a long match yesterday. We finished late,” said Rune, who beat Jannik Sinner in a late-night semi-final thriller on Saturday to reach the final. “I didn’t have much time to recover. It is what it is. I gave it all. Didn’t have any more in me. I did what I could, and I was very close.”

The 19-year-old Dane led Rublev 4-1 in the third set, but was unable to close out, with the fifth seed rallying to clinch his first title at this level. Rune, who was aiming to become the first teenager to triumph in Monte-Carlo since a then-19-year-old Rafael Nadal won the title in 2006, is determined to take the lessons from falling short in his second ATP Masters 1000 final.

“I was definitely in control in the third set and also I would say mostly in the first set as well,” Rune said. ” But again, I didn’t manage to close it out. Disappointing, but again, it’s part of tennis.”

Rune overcame Dominic Thiem, Daniil Medvedev and Sinner en route to his first tour-level final of the season. The 2022 Paris champion will rise to a career-high No. 7 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on Monday following his run in the Principality.

Rune will now head to the ATP 250 event in Munich, where he is the defending champion.