Pavel Danev/AP
Holger Rune will be making his second appearance at the ASB Classic in January.
Holger Rune, one of the brightest stars in men’s tennis will play at January’s ASB Classic.
The 19-year-old from Denmark, who is already ranked 27 in the world, joins Casper Ruud and Cameron Norrie on the list of players already confirmed for this summer’s ATP tournament in Auckland.
“We have been targeting young players on the rise in world tennis, and we are very excited that Holger has agreed to play in Auckland,” tournament director Nicolas Lamperin said.
“Holger is arguably the best tennis product to come out of Denmark and is proving an exciting young player on the rise.
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“He only broke into the top 100 this year, and has beaten the likes of Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, both in the top-six ranked world players, along the way.
Pavel Danev/AP
Holger Rune has reached two ATP finals this year.
“He has a fantastic all-round game and is equally strong on hard courts and clay and is sure to be a major threat in the ASB Classic.”
Rune will be coached by Serena Williams’s former coach Patrick Mouratoglou for the remainder of this year and during his preparation for the 2023 season.
Rune, who has also defeated Jannik Sinner in his young career, was No 1 in the world as a junior player and reached two ATP finals this year.
In April he defeated Botic van de Zandschulp to win the Bavarian Championship, while earlier this month he lost to Marc-Andrea Hüsler in the final at the Sofia Open.
But Rune made his biggest mark in 2022 when he reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, where he defeated Denis Shapovalov and Tsitsipas among others, before losing to Ruud.
This will be Rune’s second visit to New Zealand. In 2020 he received a qualifying wildcard for the tournament, but lost 7-5 6-1 to Canada’s Vasek Pospisil.
The men’s Classic runs from January 9-14, following the WTA women’s event starting on January 2.
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