Why Holger Rune Is A Top 10 Titan

Holger Rune has quickly become a Top 10 titan.

With his win against World No. 4 Casper Ruud in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia semi-finals Saturday, the Dane is now 8-3 against Top 10 opponents in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings since the start of the Rolex Paris Masters six-and-a-half months ago.

The 19-year-old went 5-0 against Top 10 players during his historic Paris-Bercy run and has won his past seven matches against Top 5 opponents (7-1 overall). He has defeated World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Ruud en route to the final in Rome, where he will face World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev for the crown.

Record vs. Top 10 (Active Players)

Rune and World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz have been more than a match for the best players on the ATP Tour. Among active players, only Novak Djokovic (69%) and Rafael Nadal (64.6%) have a better winning percentage against Top 10 opposition.

Rune is now 12-9 in his young career against the Top 10, giving him a win rate of 57.1 per cent. Alcaraz is 16-9 against the elite group (64%), including 4-0 in 2023.

According to Infosys ATP Stats, only 12 players in the Open Era who have qualified with a minimum 30 matches own a winning percentage of at least 50 per cent against Top 10 opponents, and all of them have reached No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Although Alcaraz and Rune have only played a combined 44 matches against Top 10 opponents, they would be near the top of the list.

Among active players, Alcaraz and Rune own a better winning percentage against the Top 10 than Andy Murray (53%), Daniil Medvedev (49.3%), Alexander Zverev (43.8%) Stefanos Tsitsipas (41.3%), Nick Kyrgios (39.7%) and Dominic Thiem (39%).

That performance has helped them move to the top of the sport. Alcaraz is World No. 2 and Rune on Monday will ascend to a career-high World No. 6. Their rivalry will be one to watch for years to come.