Holger Rune won only one match at the 2023 China Open in Beijing, which isn't what he wanted, but he's okay with it as part of his recovery process.
Rune struggled with a back injury that bothered him for weeks and caused him to play tennis on a level far below his usual self. The Danish player racked up seven consecutive defeats before finally beating Felix Auger-Aliassime in Beijing.
After getting rid of that losing streak, Rune didn't begin a winning streak because he lost immediately in the next match against Grigor Dimitrov, which was disappointing. He could have done more in that match, but it was evident in the match against Auger-Aliassime that Rune was still nowhere near his best tennis.
It will take a while, and he recognized that in his post-event update on social media. It didn't go as planned, but it's fine, as he'll get a new chance in the coming days at the Shanghai Masters, the penultimate ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
"I hoped for more here at China Open but I also knew that I had less practice up to the tournament than normal because of the back recovery. Still I was happy to play. I loved the tournament and support in Beijing Best of luck to Grigor in the quarterfinals while I move on to Shanghai and start preparations for Shanghai Masters.
That event is coming up in the next few days, though we don't know the draw yet as the qualifiers haven't even started yet. Rune hopes to win a few more matches before the Tour finally shifts indoors in Europe.
He played amazing tennis indoors last year and defends a lot of points so it would be good if he could play himself into a good rhythm by then. He's the defending champion in Paris with a good chunk of points coming from that triumph.
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