Holger Rune handed nightmare draw upon his return to Stockholm one year after injury

The 23-year-old has been busy on the court in recent times, taking on the likes of the Swiss Indoors Basel and the Paris Masters. Now he turns his focus to the Stockholm Open, the ATP 250 event that is now underway in Sweden.

Rune will likely be taken back to his brutal injury from last year’s tournament, which certainly won’t be easy for the former world number four. But he also has a nightmare draw to deal with, having been handed arguably the toughest route possible to the title.

Holger Rune handed nightmare Stockholm Open draw

Rune starts his tournament in the first round against Zizou Bergs, the eighth seed. Should he win that test, Arthur Rinderknech could await in the second round. After that the Danish star is projected to meet top seed Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals.

Rune could then be drawn against Lorenzo Musetti in the semifinals of the Stockholm Open, or indeed Ugo Humbert, last year’s runner-up. And should he make it all the way to the final, second seed Casper Ruud could be waiting. The Norwegian is the defending champion in Sweden.

• Round of 32: Z. Bergs (8)
• Round of 16: A. Rinderknech
• Quarterfinal: T. Fritz (1)
• Semifinal: L. Musetti (3)
• Final: C. Ruud (2)

Holger Rune recalls ‘scary’ Stockholm Open injury

It’s certainly been a very trying time for Rune, who has clearly been working very hard behind the scenes to recover from his unfortunate injury. He is understandably far from the player he once was, but the five-time ATP champion deserves enormous praise for how he has approached the major setback.

Looking back on the incident, he told the ATP website: “It was scary stuff. We didn’t quite know what had happened in the beginning, but getting back and being able to play there already the year after is amazing.

“Usually, we play tennis and come back here the following year as if nothing happened, but a lot happened in between. I’m very happy to play here. It’s really close to home, and there are so many Danish fans there as well, so I can’t wait.”

How would you solve the tennis injury crisis?

Rune may have dropped out of the ATP top 400 because of his lengthy injury layoff, but the entire Stockholm Open field will be well aware of the threat that he poses. But he will be taking the event one match at a time, beginning with Bergs.

And history is on his side in their career head-to-head record, with Rune winning their sole clash in Marseille back in 2022. In an added bonus, that match took place on indoor hard courts, the same surface being used in Stockholm this week.

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