The Great Dane

Barcelona Open

The Great Dane

Holger Rune needed this one, bad.

Over the last 18 months, the Dane has struggled: he’s had subpar results, and has gone through more coaches than Taylor Swift has exes.

But on Sunday, the 21-year-old beat Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(6), 6-2 in the Barcelona final, lifting his first trophy since 2023 and jumping back into the Top 10. It was one of the best performances I’ve seen from him in a while—and a reminder of how high his ceiling is when things click.

Before we get into what he did so well, I’d like to call out: these two go way back.

Photo: Rune and Alcaraz playing dubs together at 12 years old

While the Dane hasn’t compiled the same resume that Alcaraz has since then, he did tie their head to head record on the pro tour at 2-2.

Here’s how he did it:

Big Forehands

Rune typically favors his backhand—it’s more reliable than his forehand. But he knew that just getting his forehand in the court wouldn’t be good enough Alcaraz. The Spaniard is too good at taking advantage of anything remotely slow. So the Dane played with more risk—taking big cuts on his forehand early in the rally—and it paid off.

One telling moment: at 1-1 in the first set, Rune ran so far around a backhand that he hit his forehand with both feet in the alley. Holger ripped that ball inside-in, which set up an easy volley winner. That’s not one of his go-to patterns—but he pushed himself mentally to take the risk, and it worked.

Playing Through the Middle

After a shaky start, the 21 year old took a page out of the GOAT’s book and made an important adjustment.

In addition to being more consistent, Rune focused on hitting big through the middle of the court, rather than spreading the court out and making Alcaraz run.

You might ask, how is that actually a good strategy? Don’t you want to make your opponent run?

It’s particular effective against Alcaraz because it narrows his options. By playing up the middle, Rune took away the angles that fuel Alcaraz’s creativity. And because Carlos couldn’t pull Holger off the court and get him off balance, he had fewer opportunities to hit his deadly drop shots, and generally play his unpredictable style.

This might win Worst Graphic of the Year—but I intentionally shrunk Rune’s half of the court to show how small the court feels when you play big up the middle. From this position, Carlos has no choice but to hit back up the middle, or risk hitting the ball wide by going for an extreme angle.

Zooming Out

This was no doubt a huge week and win for Rune. But the big question is—is he back? Or was this just another flash of peak Holger?

The talent is there—we’ve known that for a while. But between the coach-dumping and the up-and-down results, it’s hard to say whether this win marks a turning point or just another spike in the Rune rollercoaster.

Still, this version of him—the one with a clear plan and the discipline to execute it—can beat anyone.

And if nothing else, beating your childhood buddy in a tour final? Pretty sweet.

Trivia

Which racket brand is the most popular among the Top 50 WTA players? By popular I mean most used.

A. Babolat

B. Wilson

C. Yonex

D. Head

Find out at the bottom!

Meet the Player

Ashlyn Krueger

From: USA 🇺🇸

Career High Ranking: 34

Fun Fact: Enjoys drawing and reading poetry

Game Analysis: What do you get when lightning strikes a nuclear reactor? Ashlyn Krueger’s backhand. The sound that comes off her racket should be outlawed. With an elite ground game and booming serve, the American is one of those players that can beat anyone on a good day. That said, she’ll need to work on her movement and physicality to consistently contend with the best.

Career Prediction: At just 20 years old, Krueger has blitzed her way into the Top 40. With wins over Mirra Andreeva, Elena Rybakina, and Paula Badosa, she’s proven that she can hang with the best of ‘em. Blink and she’ll be in the Top 10, bumping shoulders with Coco and Emma Navarro.

Memes

For context, Ostapenko beat Swiatek yet again on Saturday, and is now 6-0 H2H against the former World No. 1.

Around the Tour

Some of my favorite tennis content I found on the internet this week…

🇨🇭 Fed coming back?! The Swiss maestro said he’s had enough golf and wants to get back on court. While he said he has no concrete plans, he’d love to fill some stadiums and play exhibition matches. Well there goes my life savings…

🧠 Raising your tennis IQ: how ball height and court positioning affect what kind of shot you can hit

⭐️ A day in the life of Ben Shelton pre, during and post match

Answer

B. Wilson - and almost everyone who plays with Wilson uses the arm-shattering Blade

Here’s the full breakdown: Wilson (20), Yonex (17), Head (5), Babolat (4), Other (4)

Bonus

In or out?

When the umpire wouldn’t get out of her chair during the match to review a mark, Aryna Sabalenka whipped out her phone and took this photo of it. What do you think—is this in or out?

Reply to the email to let me know what you think!