Holger Rune's 2024 Hamburg Open experience didn't end well, as he was forced to retire because of a knee injury.
The young Dane's injury occurred already in his first match against Fabian Marozsan from Hungary. Rune was able to win that match in two sets, 6-4, 6-4, even though he was forced to take a medical time out during the match, as he suddenly experienced pain, abandoning one of the points as a result.
Still, he was able to play through the apparent issue, beating Marco Trungelliti from Argentina in his second-round match. The Danish player beat his opponent ranked 151st 6-4, 6-3, even though, after the match, he admitted that the knee bothered him.
"The knee is not ideal, let’s see how I feel tomorrow."
The injury came at the worst possible time for Rune, as the 2024 Paris Olympics are only a week away, and one of the reasons why he competed at the ATP 500 tournament in Hamburg was preparing for the Olympic Games.
When speaking at the event, as per InsideSport, the young Dane expressed his desire to do well at the Olympics, and even shared his prediction for fellow Danish athletes, who he believes.
"I am very confident (going into the Olympics, ed.). I feel like I can do it (win the tournament, ed.)”. I believe in myself and I am sure there will be many Danish fans to support not only me but all the Danish athletes."
"I think we are going to do well, and we are not only good in tennis but in a lot of sports, so I am sure Denmark can get some medals. I'm going to focus on doing my job and bring some medals back to Denmark."
Little did he know that his knee injury would rule him out of his quarter-final match against Arthur Fils, as down 4-6, 1-4, Rune retired from the match, and afterward, he addressed his fans on social media, explaining his retirement.
"So sorry guys. My knee had caused problems since the incident in the first match. Yesterday was bad. Today I tried but it wasn't good."
Still, as he said at the even prior to his retirement, there are many reasons for the 21-year-old to be positive. Last year, he had a bad losing streak, during which he also struggled with an injury, and coming to this part of the season without having to defend many points feels like having burden off his shoulders.
"I feel like I'm a much better player this year than I was last year at the same time, even though the ranking was different. I feel like I have grown as a person, player and athlete."
"It always feels great to play without having any points to defend, but at the same time, I always put a lot of pressure on myself to perform. I have high standards for myself. I am not where I want to be yet, so I want to improve and have good results."
"I was not playing that well last year after Wimbledon, and I feel like I am better physically and mentally now than last year. I feel like I am going in the right direction. I am only 21 years old, so I can only be better from here."