Quarter-finalist in Munich, Holger Rune pulls out of Madrid Masters

After knocking out world No 3 Alexander Zverev, Holger Rune will meet Emil Ruusuvuori on his 19th birthday in Munich

Holger Rune at the BMW Open in Munich Image Credit: Imago / Panoramic

April 28, 2022

Danish teenager Holger Rune has pulled out of the Madrid Masters due to scheduling conflicts with this week’s BMW Open in Munich.

Rune, who celebrates his 19th birthday on Friday, is through to the quarter-finals in Munich after the biggest win of his career in the second round.

On Wednesday, he stunned world No 3 and local favourite Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-2 to move into the last eight where he will meet Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori on Friday.

The Dane, who is ranked a career-high No 70 in the world, was scheduled to play the qualifying draw for the Madrid Masters, which begins on Saturday. However, he has decided to pull out of the Madrid Masters.

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In a statement posted on social media, Rune said, “I have decided to withdraw from @MutuaMadridOpen because the quarter-finals in Munich are played Friday and qualifications in Madrid will start Saturday.”

The Dane ended his post with a winking smile emoji saying, “See u in MD next year Madrid”, hinting that he was confident that his ranking would be high enough to get a direct entry into the main draw.

Statement 🚨
I have decided to withdraw from @MutuaMadridOpen 🇪🇸 because the quarterfinals in Munich are played Friday and qualifications in Madrid will start Saturday.
See u in MD next year Madrid 😉
— Holger Rune (@holgerrune2003) April 28, 2022

Not the first time Holger Rune has had conflicting schedules at back-to-back tournaments

This is not the first time that Rune has had to struggle with scheduling issues after going into the latter rounds of a tournament.

Earlier this month, Rune played two matches in two different events on the same day. The Dane won the title at the ATP Challenger event in Sanremo on the morning of Saturday April 9, and then headed to Monte-Carlo to play the qualifying draw there.

He won his matches on Saturday and Sunday to book his spot in the main draw. However, this time Rune has decided not to double up and will focus all his efforts on the BMW Open.