Holger Rune ended his almost two-year title drought in spectacular fashion Sunday, beating world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, 7-6(6), 6-2, to capture the ATP 500 Barcelona Open, MySportDab Reports.
The sixth-seeded Dane produced a calm and authoritative display to end Alcaraz’s nine-match winning run and lift the fifth ATP Tour title of his career — and a third on clay.
After a thrilling opening set, in which Rune recovered from an early break to force a tie-break, he showed resilience in converting his fourth set point. Alcaraz, who had 10 unforced errors on his forehand only in the first set, could not stay consistent.
The Spaniard had led 4-2 earlier in the set but couldn’t maintain that momentum as Rune stormed back to reel off eight points in a row to turn the balance.
Alcaraz called for a medical timeout early in the second set to get treatment on his upper right leg and then struggled to find his rhythm when he returned.
Rune, though, lifted his level, saving all four break points he faced in the second set and employing his variety of powerful baseline and deft drop shots to frustrate the home favorite.
Rune’s victory is even more impressive in light of the fact that he had to withdraw from Monte Carlo last week because of food poisoning. But the 21-year-old recovered splendidly in Barcelona, where he notably defeated defending champion Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals.
By winning, Rune evens his head-to-head record against Alcaraz to 2-2 and guarantees his return to the Top 10 in the ATP Rankings.
Alcaraz, who was competing for his third title of the season after victories in Rotterdam and Monte Carlo, will surrender the No. 2 ranking to Alexander Zverev after the German’s success in Munich.
