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World no. 7 Holger Rune will not compete at next week's ATP 250 Los Cabos event. The Dane will take a few days off the court following a couple of early exits, hoping for a better run in Acapulco. Holger is 8-4 this season, reaching the final in Brisbane in the opening week before an early Australian Open exit.
The young Dane kicked off the season with two high-profile coaches in his box. However, he parted ways with Boris Becker and Severin Luthi and added fellow Dane Kenneth Carlsen to his coaching staff. Holger was the top seed in Brisbane, seeking the season's first title.
The Dane took down Max Purcell, Alexander Shevchenko, James Duckworth and Roman Safiullin for a place in the title clash.
Rune pursued the trophy against Grigor Dimitrov and suffered a 7-6, 6-4 defeat in two hours and 16 minutes.
The more experienced player prevailed in the pivotal moments en route to his first title since the end of 2017. The Bulgarian served at 70% and overpowered the Dane behind the second serve. Grigor saved all three break points and kept the pressure on Holger, who offered his opponent nine chances.
The young gun fought well and defended eight. He lost a tight opener and got broken once in the second set to finish with the runner-up prize. Rune headed to Melbourne and kicked off the Australian Open campaign with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 triumph over Yoshihito Nishioka in three hours and 25 minutes.
Holger Rune will not compete in Los Cabos next week.
Nishioka recovered his game after the first set, taking the second and missing his chances in the third. Holger grabbed an early break in the fourth set and served well to bring the victory home.
The young gun's campaign ended in the second round following a tough 7-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 loss to world no. 122 Arthur Cazaux. The Frenchman delivered his career-best performance, landing 50 winners and taming his strokes nicely.
Rune fought well despite minor knee issues. He lost serve three times and failed to erase that deficit after his opponent's rock-solid performance behind the initial shot. Holger returned to Europe and took a wild card for the ATP 250 event in Montpellier.
The Dane kicked off the campaign against Pablo Llamas Ruiz in the second round, beating the Spaniard 7-5, 6-2.
Rune beat Michael Mmoh 7-6, 6-4 in the quarter-final, losing serve once and stealing the American's serve two times to move into the last four.
Holger felt the pain in his arm against Borna Coric, trailing 6-3, 4-1 and retiring, not risking anything ahead of the upcoming events. Rune played the Ultimate Tennis Showdown in Oslo before heading to Rotterdam. Holger met Roman Safiullin in the first round and prevailed 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.
Alexander Shevchenko avenged the Brisbane loss, beating Rune 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in the second round, ending Dane's campaign. After taking a week off, Rune should compete at the ATP 500 event in Acapulco against Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alex de Minaur, Casper Ruud and Grigor Dimitrov.