Holger Rune Names Scary Factor In Carlos Alcaraz And Jannik Sinner's Dominance
News
Holger Rune watched fellow young players Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner move further ahead of him in 2024, and the Dane recently spoke about what makes them so good.
Rune will look to hit the ground running in 2025 after a mixed 2024 season. The 21-year-old began the year positively by reaching the final of the Brisbane International, finishing as runner-up to Grigor Dimitrov.
Surprisingly, that was the only final Rune reached in 2024. He managed other solid results, such as reaching the semifinals at the Cincinnati Open and Paris Masters, but that was as good as it got for him.
During Rune's semifinal defeat in Paris to Alexander Zverev, former world No. 1 Jim Courier stingingly critiqued his game, saying it was still immature and that he did not think clearly during matches.
Six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker, who briefly coached Rune at the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024, endorsed those comments. His former coach publicly agreeing with criticism of him may have shocked Rune.
By contrast, Sinner and Alcaraz enjoyed their best seasons in 2024. Sinner secured maiden Grand Slam titles at the US Open and Australian Open to help him finish the season as the year-end No. 1.
Those were not Sinner's only achievements. The 23-year-old also won the ATP Finals on home soil in Turin, helped Italy to secure back-to-back Davis Cup titles, and claimed Masters 1000 crowns in Miami, Cincinnati, and Shanghai.
Alcaraz won majors at the French Open and Wimbledon. That took his Grand Slam tally to four despite being just 21 years old. The Spaniard was also the champion at March's Indian Wells Open.
Despite those successes, Alcaraz recently called his 2024 season challenging during a press conference before an exhibition against Frances Tiafoe, stunning a former US Open champion.
Rune would undoubtedly love to experience Alcaraz's "challenging" year in 2024. While the Dane still has much time to improve and get close to Alcaraz and Sinner's level, he admires both players.
In an interview with Tennis365, Rune outlined how Alcaraz and Sinner have separated themselves by possessing complete games that are tough for their rivals to compete against consistently.
"I think Sinner has been a very complete player this year. Then when Alcaraz is playing his best tennis, he also seems complete, but at the same time, I can see that they can improve in some areas."
"That’s unbelievable when you think Sinner this year won almost everything. The great thing about tennis is everyone always has a chance to get better. Alcaraz has been great for tennis. He’s a great player, has a lot of skills and he is showing his skills on the court. Hopefully I will be there with them soon."
It is debatable whether Sinner or Alcaraz possesses the more complete game. Daniel Medvedev used to think Alcaraz did, but changed his mind after being thrashed by Sinner at the Six Kings Slam exhibition in October.
What cannot be debated is Alcaraz and Sinner's rivals will need to produce excellent tennis in 2025 to challenge them unless either man sustains an injury.
