By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, May 22, 2023
When Holger Rune assesses the Roland Garros field, he sees one man as primary Paris favorite.
Novak Djokovic.
More: Rune Dethrones Defending Champion Djokovic in Rome
The 20-year-old Rune, who defeated Djokovic in the Rome quarterfinals after stopping the Serbian superstar in the Paris Masters final last fall, says the two-time French Open champion’s experience and Slam success makes him favorite.
“I still think Novak is the main favorite for the event,” Rune told the media after bowing to Daniil Medvedev in the Rome final on Sunday. “He’s the one with the most slams of who’s playing, the most experience.”
The sixth-ranked Rune cites world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 2 Medvedev, who owns an ATP-best five titles in 2023, as the next two favorites.
“Then we have Alcaraz. We have Medvedev,” Rune said. “We have a lot of guys.
“I think if I have to pick one favorite, I’ll probably pick Novak. But again, it’s more open because we don’t have Rafa this year who has won 14 times or something like this.”
Of course, Rune, who won Munich and was runner-up to Andrey Rublev in the Monte-Carlo final, counts himself among contenders for Paris.
“I’m a very eager person to win titles. I’ve been close to,” Rune said. “Hopefully I will learn from it.
“I mean, Paris is the main goal of the clay season. I think I had the matches that I needed to be as well-prepared as possible. Now it is the last small things I want to do better the next time I stay in these big matches.”
Photo credit: Getty
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