Barcelona, Spain – Holgaloon rejected Red Hot favourite Carlos Alcaraz for the third Barcelona Open Trophy when he surprised the Spaniards 7-6 (6), 6-2 to lift his first title in two years with the Spaniards 7-6 (6), 6-2 on the final Sunday.
Alcaraz won the tournament in 2022 and 2023, but the top seed appears to be suffering from injuries midway through the match, allowing Rune to use his first trophy to win since the Bayern Open in April 2023.
However, the title was worthy of the rune who defeated second seed Casperrood in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Alkaraz fell to third in the ATP rankings under Alexander Zverev, who won the Munich Open on Sunday.
“It means the world. It was a really great match. At first, Carlos was clearly playing big tennis and I had to breathe a lot and find a rhythm, which made me feel a bit stressed,” Rune said.
Alcaraz was off the block early in the opening set, holding the show with his strong baseline return and occasional drop shots where the Spaniard had a rune scramble to break and go up 3-2.
However, within minutes, Rune quickly returned to the set, climbing 4-3 to stunning watching fans at Spain’s oldest tennis club. Alkaraz then found himself working to stay in the set twice before forcing a tiebreak.
Alcaraz saved two more set points with Tie Break as Rune started determining points again, and Dane converted the fifth set point when the top seed return was longer.
“I think when he broke me, I went in more of the games and played more tennis. That was a big fight on the first set,” Rune said. “I know how it feels to lose this kind of first set. It was very important to win it and gain momentum. That’s why I’m so proud of myself.”
Alcaraz took a 2-1 lead in the second set, then went through a medical timeout to address what appears to be a thigh muscle and gro diameter issue. Rune raised the game so he came back and didn’t get any better.
Dane was very effective on the net, earning 12 of 16 points, but Alkaraz’s forced error count began ascending with moans in frustration as Rune took a 5-2 lead.
Rune eventually came to love as Alkaraz’s return hit the net at Championship Points and Rune gave the title.
Dane then revealed that he took notes from the way Novak Djokovic defeated Alkaraz in the Olympic final at Roland Garros.
“I thought to myself, ‘OK, let’s try and play that style,’ and really he’s going to have a lot of balls playing,” Rune said. “I’m very pleased with how I was constructed when it was really important. When it was important, I was also very brave.”