Holger Rune had to retire from his Nordic Open semi-final against Ugo Humbert during the match’s second set after suffering a nasty-looking injury in Stockholm, Sweden
An emotional Holger Rune had to withdraw from his match against Ugo Humbert at the Nordic Open after sustaining what seemed to be a severe injury. The young Dane was on track to defeat his French rival and advance to the final, having sailed through the first set.
However, he ultimately pulled out of the competition after a peculiar few minutes, culminating in him breaking down in tears. During the fifth game of the second set, Humbert noticed a ball kid moving in his peripheral vision as he readied himself to strike a short forehand.
He ended up lobbing the ball back onto the court, seemingly halting the point. Rune, however, advanced to dispatch the ball and seize the chance to break Humbert’s serve.
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The latter protested to the umpire, contending that they should have called a let due to the disruption. They did not witness the incident, though, and had no option but to rely on their own discretion.
That resulted in a delay of approximately two minutes as Rune stood by for the next point to commence, cooling off in the meantime. When play resumed, the 22-year-old seemed to hurt himself while scrambling to return the ball.
He instantly grabbed the lower part of his left leg and signalled to his team that he couldn’t carry on. Rune broke down in tears as he hobbled to the edge of the court before propping up his injured limb on his racket bag.
The physio soon came to evaluate the injury, with Rune exclaiming: “I heard my ankle pop.” His team also appeared visibly upset in the stands, given the severity of the injury.
From that point on, Rune was unable to put weight on his injured leg and needed helping off the court. Humbert maintained a respectful tone in his post-match interview, stating: “I don’t want to talk too much, I feel sorry for Holger.”
The exact nature of his injury remains uncertain, with scans likely required to determine the full extent of the damage. If it proves to be a complete or partial rupture of the Achilles tendon, Rune could face several months out of action.
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He was already contending with a hamstring injury before this unfortunate incident, having admitted earlier in the week that he was in pain. “I’m very happy that I managed to finish the match, honestly, you know,” Rune confessed after defeating Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the Nordic Open quarter-finals.
“I couldn’t have done it without you, great fans, so honestly, thank you very much, you really helped me a lot today. I was really struggling, as you saw with my left leg, but you know the energy from you guys was very special.”
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