By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Monday, April 21, 2025
Photo credit: Munich BMW Open Facebook
Novak Djokovic created a golden moment on Roland Garros’ red clay—and set a gold standard Holger Rune followed to win Barcelona.
A calm Rune toppled top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(6), 6-2 in a dynamic Barcelona final to capture his fifth career title.
The 21-year-old Rune followed a simple tactical script: Play like Djokovic did defeating Alcaraz in the Paris Olympic gold-medal match last August.
“At the beginning, when I was broken, I was thinking, ‘Wow, how can I beat him?’ ” Rune told the media in Barcelona. “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.”
A spirited Djokovic out-dueled Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(3), 7-6(2) in an entertaining Olympic final to capture his first gold medal and complete the career Golden Slam in stirring style last summer.
Thrusting his arms toward the sky, an emotional Djokovic sat in his court-side seat sobbing into his towel after completing his career-long quest of capturing gold for Serbia with one of the most passionate performances of his life.
The 37-year-old Serbian superstar made history as the oldest Olympic tennis gold-medal champion since tennis returned to the Games at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
The Barcelona final tiebreaker was deadlocked 4-all when Rune ripped a Djokovic-esque running forehand pass that helped him edge over the line in the breaker.
Of course, few pros can play with the all-court acumen of Djokovic.
Interestingly, Djokovic has said Rune reminds him of himself.
Djokovic said the rangy Rune’s balance off both wings, court coverage and his ability to excel on all surfaces remind him of the man in the mirror.
“[Rune] kind of reminds me a little bit, the way he plays. Really fit physically, great defense, but also great counter-puncher,” Djokovic said. “He can hurt you from both forehand and backhand side. Really solid serve. Aggressive returns.
“Just all-around player on all surfaces. Particularly on clay I think he finds himself really comfortable playing.”
