Holger Rune will be in contention to make it big at the French Open

Holger Rune is one of the better players to come out of Denmark. He is also one of the two players to come out of less-fancied Scandinavian countries, Casper Ruud of Norway being the other.

Aside from that, Rune is a part of the trio of youngsters who should make it big in tennis along with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. The 20-year-old Dane has made rapid strides in the last year and is currently ranked sixth in the world.

Holger Rune also won the Paris Masters last year and made it to the finals of the Monte Carlo Masters and Italian Open before losing to Daniil Medvedev. He has made deep runs into most of the tournaments on clay, but playing well at Roland Garros is crucial to confirm his status as one of the leading players in the world.

Rune should count clay as his favorite surface and the only Grand Slam on the surface might turn out to be a favorite hunting ground for him.

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Holger Rune has proven his mettle in the European clay swing so far

Holger Rune has given a good account of himself in the tournaments on European clay courts. He beat Novak Djokovic in a highly entertaining match in Rome. He also accounted for Sinner and Medvedev in the Monte Carlo Masters before wasting a great opportunity to beat Andrey Rublev in the final. The Dane also won the BMW Open in Munich this year, which was his fourth career ATP singles title.

With a little more experience, the Danish youngster could have actually added to his tally of Masters 1000 titles itself. However, those losses in the finals should serve as a lesson to him for improving his mindset and game overall. They might have already taught him to utilize the opportunities well and keep his composure during crucial moments.

The Dane will get many such opportunities in the future and one can safely assume that he will keep adding to his number of Masters 1000 titles. Still, winning a slam remains the ultimate aim for any tennis player and Holger Rune will be aiming for that at the French Open 2023.

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Holger Rune should be ready to grind out rallies more often on clay

Internazionali BNL D'Italia 2023 - Day Fourteen - Holger Rune

Holger Rune can hit powerful groundstrokes off either wing and is also a good mover on the court. However, the Dane will do well to remember that patience is a very key quality to have while playing on clay and he has to work on that aspect of his game.

He has a tendency to rush the net quite frequently in order to shorten the rallies. That tactic can always backfire on clay, as it forces him to be on the receiving end of his opponent’s passing shots. He found that out in the recent Italian Open final against Daniil Medvedev.

The Russian used his passing shots to good effect against Rune in the Rome final and the Dane’s prospective opponents might try to take a leaf out of the Russian’s book. Rune will have to keep in mind that he cannot win the tournament from the net and will have to do it from the baseline only.

Hence, Holger Rune should be ready to grind out rallies from the baseline more often and play with more patience, something which is necessary to succeed in the best-of-five format on clay.

However, his drop shots are already world-class and it might really help him to introduce backhand slices more often to his game. That will enable him to stay in the rallies longer from the baseline and also force his opponents to make mistakes. It remains to be seen how the 20-year-old Dane approaches the tournament.