A year on from that horrific achilles injury, Holger Rune is back with a bang in Stockholm: "I choose to concentrate on the good memories"

The 2025 Stockholm Open will forever be a gloomy memory for Holger Rune. The former World No.4 saw his tennis career abruptly halted in catastrophic fashion following a horrific achilles injury in the semi-finals. He has since banished his demons and got off to a winning start in his return to Scandinavia.

The 23-year-old has come back from a lengthy spell on the sidelines with his tennis career back to square one with a lot of work to do. In last year's semi-final clash against Ugo Humbert, Rune snapped his achilles tendon and was taken away from the court in a lot of pain and agony.

That would continue to grow with the news being the worst case scenario. He pushed extremely hard to come back better than ever with a new lease of life ahead of his highly anticipated return. This would be just before the Asian swing, representing his country at the Davis Cup against Bulgaria. First round exits in Tokyo and Shanghai marked a frustrating return to the ATP Tour.

He was back on track at the Swiss Indoors, reaching the quarter-finals before being edged out in a three-set thriller against Valentin Vacherot. A tight straight sets loss to Tommy Paul halted his Paris Masters campaign, a tournament he previously won, as he turned his attention to the Swedish capital, a place that had haunted him for some time now.

Back on the same courts where his tragic injury occurred, he made light work of Zizou Bergs, prevailing 6-3, 6-4 to book his spot in the last-16. The 2022 champion was overjoyed to have won, making it clear that he was focusing on the positive memories from a tournament he was fond of. “It’s special coming back to Stockholm after last year. I choose to concentrate on the good memories,” he said. “It’s such a nice court, such a nice event.”

In his fifth ATP Tour event of the year, he was positive surrounding his condition. “I’ve had a year to work on it. It’s feeling good and let’s keep it that way. I’m feeling good, movement on the court and trying to build it match by match.” His next task will be Miomir Kecmanovic, with the winner set to face either the No.1 seed Taylor Frtiz or Cameron Norrie in the quarter-finals.

Ahead of the tournament, Rune spoke to ATPTour.com regarding that nasty injury that kept him out of the sport for almost a year. “It was scary stuff,” Rune began. “We didn't quite know what had happened in the beginning, but getting back and being able to play there already the year after is amazing."

With a lot of Danish fans making the trip east to support him, Rune admitted that it had a different feel going into the event. “Usually, we play tennis and come back here the following year as if nothing happened, but a lot happened in between. I'm very happy to play here. It's really close to home, and there are so many Danish fans there as well, so I can't wait."

He does have some momentum from the Swiss Indoors that he can use to get back up to speed. That was shown in his fine win over Bergs.

"It was so important for me to get those wins in Basel, getting wins against good players at this level on the ATP Tour,” Rune stated. “Even though I got the wins at the Davis Cup, this was another confidence booster and gave me the belief that I can still do it. We're just going to keep building, and I think getting those matches under my belt before next year is crucial for me."

Still so young, Rune was touted to challenge the best players in the world and fight for Grand Slam and Masters 1000 titles on a regular basis. That could still occur, but he has a lot of work to do before becoming a serious challenger once more. Then again, he has taken in a wealth of knowledge away from the court, getting himself in the right mind frame as he looks to sail back up the order.

"It's patience, trusting the process and my resilience. Staying in the moment and embracing the more boring work, which is the off-court work. I know that if I can get through this, I can get through most things, because it requires a lot of mental effort as well."

In conclusion, Rune was determined to do his best and put on a show for the spectators. "It's going to be a different feeling. Obviously, it's going to be a bit overwhelming as well, even though I've already gone through my comeback and getting back to the Tour. But I think that's part of it. It's not Stockholm's fault that I got injured. I love the tournament and have great memories of winning there in the past. I just want to come back, give a massive effort and hopefully do well."