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Despite the defeat against Marcos Giron, Holger Rune has decided to extend his stay in Toronto to continue training on the courts of the National Bank Open. The Dane was spotted at the Iga Stadium on the occasion of the match between Carlos Alcaraz and Hubert Hurkacz.
Rune witnessed live the significant comeback completed by the Spanish against the Pole. The world number one experienced a long moment of difficulty just when the match seemed to be under his total control. Two breaks ahead in the third set, Alcaraz lost his serve twice in a row and put his rival back in the game.
The young star from Murcia managed to find his best tennis in the tie-break that allowed him to gain access to the quarterfinals.
In an interview with the official ATP website, Rune talked about his rivalry with Alcaraz.
He told: "It amuses me.
And I think the reason why rivalries are so important in the world of sports is because they determine the growth of it. It becomes more interesting. When you only have a great player, obviously for him it's nice, but it's not the same thing.
It's more competitive to be able to count on more strong tennis players. I think Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, but also Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe have taken tennis to another level. Hopefully we can do it too."
Alcaraz defeated by Paul, in Toronto
The Spaniard starts very badly like Thursday, suffering an opening break (even two double faults) and even finishing down 2-5.
The number one struggles to find an acceptable version of his tennis, he manages to recover one of the two breaks but then gives up his serve again (6-3). In the next set, the key is all between the seventh and eighth game: Carlitos breaks the serve to zero and defends the advantage after canceling three chances of the counter-break in favor of the American (6-4).
The crowd is everything for Carlitos, who tries to get loaded and leave behind the rage of the first set. But it is Paul who plays a really good decisive third set. The American takes advantage of the only break opportunity granted by the young 20-year-old and with great solidity maintains the last batting rounds. Waiting for him now is Jannik Sinner.