Holger Rune beat Carlos Alcaraz this Friday in the quarter-finals of the Rolex Paris Masters.
The clash between the two 19-year-old players, symbols of the generation reaching the top of world tennis, was eagerly awaited.
If it turned shorter than expected due to the abandonment of Alcaraz during the tie-break of the 2nd set, it is undoubtedly only the first of a long series.
From our special correspondent in Bercy,
The confrontation, bitter, deserved another end.
But Carlos Alcaraz's abs, which had been whistling for a few games, prompted their owner to say stop at the start of the second set tie-break, this Friday against Holger Rune in the quarter-finals of the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000.
Too bad, because we then had the feeling that this meeting between the two 19-year-old guys was going to mount even more pressure, so much the previous games had been disputed… and that Rune seemed more and more close to letting the coffee maker explode.
The Dane, hair-raising in the first set won 6-2, was still more agitated between the points as he saw the world number 1 return dangerously to his standards to, perhaps, embark him in an undecided third set .
Dominating for a good part of his quarter-final, Holger Rune qualified following the abandonment of Carlos Alcaraz (6/3, 6-6 ab.) 👇#RolexParisMasters
— ROLEX PARIS MASTERS (@RolexPMasters) November 4, 2022
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Frustrating, therefore, for the approximately 14,000 spectators of the Accor Hotel Arena and the followers.
But instructive too, since the space of a good hour and a half, we were still able to get an idea of ​​what the tennis of tomorrow would look like.
The two gifted, born in 2003 within a week of each other, are on track to make a generation old-fashioned that hasn't even had time to reach the top.
The famous "next gen" represented by Medvedev, Zverev, Tsitispas and Berrettini (25-26 years old), staged by the ATP to remind the public that there would be life behind the eternal Big 3, is in the process of to lose the succession battle - even if the Russian managed to scrape a Grand Slam title.
At the end of October, Holger Rune and Lorenzo Musetti, just a year older than their two friends and also present in the quarterfinals in Paris, won in Stockholm and Naples by beating Tsitsipas and Berrettini respectively in the final.
A coincidence, perhaps.
Or a real sign.
Rune, 103rd in the world at the start of the season, swept like an airplane into the top 20. And what about Carlos Alcaraz, with his two Masters 1000 wins and especially his victory at the US Open which made him the youngest number 1 of the story.
“He wants him to be the boss”
The common point of the two comets, a head hard as steel, which shows no inhibition.
They grew up with the idea of ​​torpedoing anyone who gets in the way, and they assume it.
“What is beautiful about Alcaraz is that he already seems in place in his head.
It's normal for him to win, told us an admiring Yannick Noah during an interview before the last Roland-Garros.
We saw the arrival of the new champion of the next few years in a few months.
Less exposed for the moment, Rune has the weapons to accompany him to the top.
Patrick Mouratoglou, who we saw very active in the Danish box on Friday, has just joined his staff to help him take the last steps.
Asked by
Tennis Majors
last month, he said he was amazed by the maturity of his new colt.
“He has the ambition to be number 1 and he does not say that in the air, he noticed.
He is a player who creates his own opportunities, he makes things depend on him.
He doesn't let the opponent be the boss on the court, because he wants them to be the boss.
»
A strong character that he will however have to learn to channel.
Restless, almost volcanic, Rune has already made its reputation on the circuit.
Stan Wawrinka did not hesitate to teach him a lesson at the end of the boiling tie-break which had sealed their first round (4-6, 7-5, 7-6), advising him "to stop doing the baby on the court”.
His behavior had also been singled out by Casper Ruud at Roland.
To which the kid from Gentofte had replied in a local newspaper: "Look at Roger Federer, young, he was maybe 40 times worse than me, and he is one of the most loved players on the circuit, so I think that I have all the time to improve my image.
»
" That's exciting "
The difference in personality with a much more placid Carlos Alcaraz will perhaps spice up their rivalry in the making.
In any case, on the big circuit.
Because in reality, it's been going on for years, since their first confrontation at the age of 11.
“I beat him, he beat me, it's very good that two young people like us emerge early and continue like this.
It's exciting, we pull ourselves up, ”observed Rune in
L'Equipe
this Friday.
While waiting to find the Spaniard next season, he will struggle on Saturday in the semi-final Felix Auger-Aliassime, who can be associated with this "baby gen" with his 22 years.
Be careful, all this little world is still far from being installed.
On the other side of the table, grandpa Djoko, who was quietly eating Musetti at the start of the evening, is still solid at the post.
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Tennis
Masters 1000 Paris-Bercy
Carlos Alcaraz
Holger Rune