Life on the ATP Tour is a bit more difficult for the lower-ranked players, and Holger Rune was the last player to experience those difficulties.
The 2019 Roland Garros Juniors champion is still on his quest to enter the Top 50 of the ATP Rankings. The young Dane might succeed in this task after the 2022 Munich Open, which can earn him enough points to climb the rankings and qualify for the main draws of ATP Masters 1000 tournaments directly next year.
This year, however, the second-highest-ranked 18-year-old player in the ATP Rankings wasn't able to enter the main draw of the Madrid Open directly, as he was supposed to play in the qualifying of the tournament.
But the problem is that Rune plays at the Munich Open, where he's scheduled to play in the quarterfinals on Friday after defeating the first-seeded Alexander Zverev in the second round, and previously beating qualifier Jiri Lehecka in the first round of the tournament.
Because of this clash in the schedule, he won't be able to play in Madrid this year, as he announced his withdrawal on Twitter. Despite this minor setback, the former junior world number one is positive about his future, as he predicts to play in the main draw in Madrid next year.
"I have decided to withdraw from Madrid Open because the quarterfinals in Munich are played Friday and qualifications in Madrid will start Saturday. See u in Main Draw next year Madrid."
Playing in the quarter-finals of an ATP 250 tournament, especially one for which he got a main draw wild card, is a huge opportunity for the youngster, especially since he doesn't have to play any seeded player, but Emil Ruusuvuori, who wasn't among the seeds at the BMW Open.
On top of that, should he reach the semi-finals, Rune would once again avoid a seeded player, taking on the winner of the match between Oscar Otte and Alejandro Tabilo, giving him a great chance to reach the final of the tournament.