The Danish Holger Rune won his first Masters 1,000 at the age of 19, that of Paris-Bercy, by beating Novak Djokovic in the final in a tournament marked both by Carlos Alcaraz’s abdominal injury that leaves open the fight for number one, as for the premature defeat of Rafa Nadal.
Rune applied himself for 2 hours and 33 minutes to bring down the Serbian monument 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
The young Dane, only six days older than number one Alcaraz, did something never seen before on the circuit: eliminate five ‘top ten’ in the same competition.
Djokovic (n.7), Felix Auger-Aliassime (n.8), Alcaraz (n.1), Andrey Rublev (n.9) and Hubert Hurkacz (n.10) were his victims.
KNOW MORE: Rune goes back to Djokovic and wins his first Masters 1,000 at the age of 19
This Sunday’s title will raise him from 18th to 10th place in the ATP, bordering on the dispute of the Turin Finals between November 13 and 20which would be reached if another classified player drops out.
Rune officially ends the season with three titles (Munich, Stockholm and Paris-Bercy) and two finals (Basel and Sofia), as well as a quarterfinal at Roland Garros.
Djokovic loses the throne on the Bercy fast court – where he has won six times – and prepares to play the ‘masters’ tournament.
The world number one, Alcaraz, did not manage to secure the throne until the end of 2022, something that he would have done in the event of victory in Bercy. He retired in the quarters against Holger Rune when he was trailing.
A torn abdominal, which will have him out for about six weeks, leaves him out of action to defend number one in Turin.
Nevertheless, the reigning US Open champion has a good cushion. He leads Rafa Nadal, second, by 1,000 points, and Stefanos Tsitsipas, third and semifinalist in Bercy, by almost 1,500.
To prevent Alcaraz from finishing on top, the two have to win the ATP Finals without losing a match.
While the Greek was solvent in Paris, Nadal, 36, was eliminated at the first opportunity by the American Tommy Paul (n.31).
New father since October 8 and with an inactivity in high competition for almost two months -since he was dropped by Frances Tiafoe at the US Open-, Nadal did not find himself on the court and gave in after wasting a set of advantage.
The Masters of Paris-Bercy also served to define the eight masters of Turin.
Alcaraz was replaced by the American Taylor Fritz (n.9) and the other seven classified are Nadal, Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud, Daniil Medvedev (eliminated in Bercy by Alex de Miñaur), Djokovic, Auger-Aliassime and Rublev.
