Carlos Alcaraz was disappointed not to win his third Barcelona title on Sunday. But as he reflected on a difficult loss to Holger Rune, the Spaniard found it hard to be too disappointed.
“Losing is never easy, even less so in a final here,” he said.
Alcaraz, first and foremost, had to give credit to Rune, who valiantly navigated all the treacherous moments of Sunday’s finale with a sense of calm composure.
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Incidentally, Rune is inside the Top-10 in Monday’s ATP rankings for the first time in over a year. But bigger things could be in the offing for Rune, who has a career-high ranking of No.4 in the world.
Alcaraz was full of praise for his rival on Sunday. He saw what we all saw, from an even close vantage point: Rune’s unflappability, which is a new wrinkle for a player that in the past has been known to let his own emotions sabotage his best interests.
“I have to give credit to Holger, he played an exceptional match, very well organised,” Alcaraz said. “He knew what he had to do at all times.”
Alcaraz said the tennis was not surprising – we’ve all seen it in spurts – but added that the consistency and the poise felt, well, different.
“I’m not surprised by his level, but I am by his discipline,” he said. “He didn’t have any ups and downs, he was very professional. From start to finish he was very clear on what he had to do and he went for it.”
Rune improves his lifetime record to 2-2 against Alcaraz with the win, and rises four spots to No.9 in the ATP rankings. Even better, he’s up to No.7 in the Race to Turin standings.
After the match Rune said that he paid close attention to Novak Djokovic’s win over Alcaraz in the Olympic gold medal match. The Serbian legend was the last man to defeat Alcaraz on the clay until Sunday.
“At the beginning, when I was broken, I was thinking, ‘Wow, how can I beat him?’” Rund said on court after his triumph. “I told myself, ‘OK, what did Novak do when he beat him?’ I kind of played it back in my mind, that Olympic final?
“I was watching all of it when they played, amazing match, and I thought, ‘OK, let’s try to play that kind of style, really make him play a lot of balls’. I’m really happy how I stayed composed when it mattered and I was also very brave when it mattered.”
