Holger Rune has quickly become a Top 10 titan.
With his win against World No. 4 Casper Ruud in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia semi-finals Saturday, the Dane is now 9-3 against Top 10 opponents in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings since the start of the Rolex Paris Masters six-and-a-half months ago.
The 19-year-old went 5-0 against Top 10 players during his historic Paris-Bercy run and has won his past seven matches against Top 5 opponents (7-1 overall). He has defeated World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Ruud en route to the final in Rome, where he will face World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev for the crown.
Record vs. Top 10 (Active Players)
Player
Top 10 Record
Winning %
1) Novak Djokovic
243-109
69%
2) Rafael Nadal
186-102
64.6%
3) Carlos Alcaraz
16-9
64%
4) Holger Rune
13-9
59.1%
5) Andy Murray
105-93
53%
Rune and World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz have been more than a match for the best players on the ATP Tour. Among active players, only Novak Djokovic (69%) and Rafael Nadal (64.6%) have a better winning percentage against Top 10 opposition.
Rune is now 13-9 in his young career against the Top 10, giving him a win rate of 59.1 per cent. Alcaraz is 16-9 against the elite group (64%), including 4-0 in 2023.
According to Infosys ATP Stats, only 12 players in the Open Era who have qualified with a minimum 30 matches own a winning percentage of at least 50 per cent against Top 10 opponents, and all of them have reached No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Although Alcaraz and Rune have only played a combined 44 matches against Top 10 opponents, they would be near the top of the list.
Among active players, Alcaraz and Rune own a better winning percentage against the Top 10 than Andy Murray (53%), Daniil Medvedev (49.3%), Alexander Zverev (43.8%) Stefanos Tsitsipas (41.3%), Nick Kyrgios (39.7%) and Dominic Thiem (39%).
That performance has helped them move to the top of the sport. Alcaraz is World No. 2 and Rune on Monday will ascend to a career-high World No. 6. Their rivalry will be one to watch for years to come.