Carlos Alcaraz is the toast of the tennis community at the moment, following his Wimbledon 2023 title win recently. One of the rivalries that could take the sport by storm in the future is Carlos Alcaraz vs Holger Rune. Both players are set to participate in the Toronto Masters 2023.
However, Alcaraz and Rune are extremely friendly off the court as they have spoken nice things about each other often. The youngsters opted to practice with each other ahead of the start of the ‘North American swing’. The video is proof of the fact that Alcaraz treats training sessions like a proper match, giving it his everything and playing shots of similar skill and intensity.
Carlos Alcaraz takes practice very seriously
The video has Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune being involved in a 11-shot rally. Rune put up a good serve and was in pole position for most of the rally. However, Alcaraz attempted his backhand drop shot coming out of nowhere, as many fans are now used to seeing of the World No.1. Rune responded well by trying to put the ball away down the line, targeting Alcaraz’s backhand. However, the Spaniard played a defensive shot soon after, which Rune could not take advantage of. And as a result, Alcaraz finished things off perfectly with a powerful forehand down the line.
Surprisingly, Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune have played against each other in the men’s singles draw on the ATP Tour just thrice. And Alcaraz leads 2-1 so far. The last time these two clashed was recently at the Wimbledon 2023 Championships. Playing in the quarterfinals, Alcaraz beat Rune in three hotly contested sets, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 on his way to winning his first title at the All England Club.
Alcaraz, Rune on course to meet at Toronto Masters 2023
The Toronto Masters organizers on Friday came out with the draws for each event officially. In the men’s singles category, Novak Djokovic is the biggest miss while Carlos Alcaraz will be the top seed. As a result of Djokovic’s absence, Holger Rune is the 5th seed.
This could make for another potential blockbuster quarterfinal match between Alcaraz and Rune since they are in the same, top half of the men’s singles draw. 3rd seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and 7th seed Jannik Sinner are also likely to clash in the same round. The winner of that match is set to take on the winner of the Alcaraz vs Rune match should both the events take place.
The 20-year-old Spaniard, who has won 47 out of 51 matches this year so far, will mostly play USA’s Ben Shelton or fellow Spaniard, Bernabe Zapata Miralles in the first round. Should he win the competition, it would not be his first in Canada but he would also take home a whopping $1.02 million as well as his 13th ATP title.
