Holger Rune reveals inspiration behind Barcelona Open final victory over Carlos Alcaraz

BARCELONA: Denmark's Holger Rune on Sunday, disclosed the strategy that led him to stun red-hot favourite Carlos Alcaraz and win the recently-concluded Barcelona Open.

The Danish world number nine shared that his style of play was inspired by 24-time grand slam winner Novak Djokovic who beat Alcaraz in last year’s Paris Olympics showdown.

Holger Rune destroyed the local boy Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 to stop him from winning the prestigious tournament for the third time.

Alcaraz had won the tournament in 2022 and 2023 but the top seed seemed to be struggling with an injury midway through the match, allowing Rune to capitalise and win his first trophy since the Bavarian Open in April 2023.

Rune said that when he was broken in the first set, he remembered how Djokovic defeated Alcaraz in the Olympics and tried to emulate the Serb's tactics.

“When I got broken in the first set, I thought to myself that I don’t need to hit every shot on the line,” he said after the victory.

“So, I told myself, ‘Okay, what did Novak do when he beats him?’ And I kind of played it in my mind — the [2024] Olympic final. I was watching it, all of it when they played. Honestly, an amazing match.

“And I thought to myself, ‘Okay, let’s try to play that kind of style, really make him play a lot of balls.’ And I am very happy with how I stayed composed when it really mattered and I was also very brave when it mattered.”

Rune added: “It means the world, it was such a great match.

Alcaraz and Rune will be competing again in the Madrid Open, which is scheduled to take place from April 23 to May 4 2025.