Holger Rune‘s experience at the 2024 Hamburg Open came to a premature end due to a knee injury.
Rune sustained the injury in his first match against Fabian Marozsan from Hungary. Despite winning the match 6-4, 6-4, Rune had to take a medical timeout during the game due to sudden pain.
He battled through the issue to defeat Marco Trungelliti from Argentina in the second round, winning 6-4, 6-3, although he admitted that the knee was bothering him.
“The knee is not ideal, let’s see how I feel tomorrow.”
The untimely injury occurred just a week before the 2024 Paris Olympics, for which Rune was preparing by competing in the ATP 500 tournament in Hamburg.
Speaking at the event, Rune expressed his confidence in his Olympic prospects and his belief in Danish athletes.
“I am very confident going into the Olympics. I feel like I can win the tournament. 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.”
Unfortunately, Rune’s injury led to his retirement from the quarter-final match against Arthur Fils, where he was trailing 4-6, 1-4.
“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.”
Despite the setback, Rune remains positive, citing improvements in his game and a lack of pressure from defending points compared to the previous year.
“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.”
