Holger Rune shocked hometown favorite Carlos Alcaraz to capture the Barcelona Open title on Sunday, silencing the Spanish crowd with a straight-sets victory.
Alcaraz, chasing a third crown in Catalonia and back-to-back titles after last week’s Monte Carlo triumph, struggled with a groin issue in the second set and fell 7-6 (6), 6-2.
The loss means Alcaraz will slip to No. 3 in the world rankings on Monday, overtaken by birthday boy Alexander Zverev, who celebrated turning 28 with a win at the BMW Open in Munich.
Alcaraz began strongly and broke serve in the fifth game, but fellow 21-year-old Rune hit straight back and was the better player from there, finally taking his fifth set point in the tiebreaker.
Alcaraz applied pressure early in the second set, but Rune withstood it. It became clear all was not well with the Spaniard when he headed off court for a medical timeout.
His final chance came and went with two break points in the sixth game, before Rune closed out his fifth ATP Tour title and sealed a return to the top 10.
“It means the world,” the Dane told Sky Sports. “It was such a great match. In the beginning I was a bit stressed because Carlos obviously played big-time tennis. I had to breathe a lot and find my rhythm.
“Then it was a big battle in the first set. The first set was extremely important. I’m so proud of myself.”
Rune said he thought back to Alcaraz’s loss to Novak Djokovic in the Olympic final last summer as he sought a winning strategy.
“I kind of played it in my mind,” he said. “I thought to myself, ‘OK, let’s try to play that kind of style, really make him play a lot of balls.’ I’m very happy with how I stayed composed when it really mattered, and I was also very brave.”