Carlos Alcaraz was stunned by Holger Rune, who delivered a sensational performance to claim the Barcelona Open title on Sunday, April 20.
The player defeated Alcaraz with a score of 7-6 (8-6) 6-2, as per BBC Sports.
This victory marks Rune’s first ATP Tour title in two years and his biggest win since the 2022 Paris Masters.
After winning match, the player expressed, "I told myself OK, what did Novak do when he beat him?"
The 21-year-old continued, "I kind of played it in my mind, the Olympic final, and I thought to myself let's try to play that kind of style, really make him play a lot of balls."
"I'm really happy about how I stayed composed when it really mattered. I was also very brave when it mattered," Rune added.
Alcaraz, who recently won his sixth ATP Masters 1000 tittle missed all four opportunities to break Rune’s serve in the second set and had to take a medical timeout.
As a result, Rune will move back into the ATP top 10 rankings on Monday.
On the other hand, Alcaraz will lose his spot as world number two, which will now be taken by Alexander Zverev.
Zverev won his first title of the year at the Munich Open, where he defeated Ben Shelton 6-2, 6-4 in the final on his 28th birthday.
Alcaraz will now prepare himself to defend his championship title at the French Open tournament in May.
