Rune, excited after his return: "This is the perfect beginning for me"

After a long wait, yesterday the circuit welcomed Holger Rune in the best possible way. Although his victory in the Davis Cup against Iliyan Radulov may not appear on the front cover of his biography, there surely isn’t any victory more special at this moment.

“Wow. This is crazy, it’s crazy,” were the first words from the tennis player from Gentofte after sealing the victory. Rune needed a few extra seconds to compose himself, to appreciate where he was and everything he had left behind. It had been too long since the last time he had competed, too many things along the way to pretend that this was just another match.

The day Rune felt like a tennis player again

“It has been quite brutal, to be honest. Obviously, it was a very unfortunate injury that happened eleven months ago, but we have trained a lot. I have gotten up every day and done my rehabilitation to be able to be here today,” he stressed emotionally. In those words was summarized almost an entire year of patience, frustration, and silent work. A routine repeated every morning with a single goal: to feel like a tennis player again. And the venue was not just any venue.

Grateful 🙏🏼❤️ #back pic.twitter.com/3mPrINjPMZ

— Holger Rune (@holgerrune2003) September 18, 2026

Rune returned home, in front of his fans, with about 3,000 supporters cheering him on in Hillerod. “It’s the perfect way for me to start, in front of the best crowd in the world.” After so many months without hearing a crowd, surely even the noise must have sounded different. The match also had its little traps. Radulov managed to go up 3-2 and break in the first set, forcing Rune to remember that returning doesn’t mean automatically regaining everything one had before getting injured. The Dane responded with four consecutive games, took the first set, and then accelerated to close the match in one hour and 25 minutes.

“The perfect start,” was how the 23-year-old tennis player, currently ranked #144 in the world, titled it. That is probably the phrase that best summarizes what happened. Rune has not returned to prove that he is recovered after a match; his own process has taught him that the body needs time and that it is not enough to want to come back. With the first victory in his pocket, a new stage begins. After 335 days, the Dane once again did something as simple and extraordinary as playing a tennis match. Something so simple but that he missed so much since his life changed at that tournament in Stockholm.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Rune, emocionado tras su regreso: “Este es el comienzo perfecto para mí”