Holger Rune ends Carlos Alcaraz's clay-court winning streak to capture Barcelona title

Holger Rune ended Carlos Alcaraz’s nine-match clay-court winning streak in the final of the Barcelona Open on Sunday, defeating the Spaniard, 7-6 (6), 6-2, to capture the title at the ATP 500 event.

It was the fifth ATP title of the 21-year-old Dane’s career, and—perhaps surprisingly—his first ATP title in almost exactly two years, since winning on the clay of Munich on April 23rd, 2003.

“Thanks to my mom, thanks to my team, thanks to everyone for being here. It’s an amazing feeling,” he said at the trophy ceremony.

“It’s been a while, so thank you guys for being here.”

Rune also had kind words for Alcaraz.

“I want to say congrats to you, not just for this week, but for Monaco,” he told the Spaniard. “I watched you win, and you’re doing something truly amazing for tennis, and sport as well.”

Alcaraz had been on a nine-match winning streak on clay, capturing the sixth Masters 1000 title of his career in Monte Carlo last week, then storming into another final in Barcelona this week.

And it looked like that run would continue against Rune on Sunday after Alcaraz got the first break of the match for a 3-2 lead in the first set, but the Dane broke right back for 3-all, eventually snuck out the first set in a tie-break, then won the last five games in a row from 1-2 in the second set to lift his first ATP trophy since he was a teenager.

And there's more.

Rune's victory over Alcaraz in the final was the milestone 20th Top 10 win of his career—he came into Barcelona with 18 wins over the elite, then defeated No. 10-ranked Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals, 6-4, 6-2, and now the No. 2-ranked Spaniard for the title.

And there's even more.

At just 21 years old, Rune also completed his career set of wins over every Top 10 ranking with his victory over Alcaraz—he had already beaten a No. 1 and every ranking from No. 3 to No. 10 beforehand, with No. 2 being the only one missing from his collection.

He had actually beaten all the other ones by the end of 2023.

HOLGER RUNE'S FIRST WINS OVER EVERY TOP 10 RANKING:

• d. No. 1 Alcaraz in 2022 Paris QFs
• d. No. 2 Alcaraz in 2025 Barcelona F
• d. No. 3 Zverev in 2022 Munich 2nd Rd
• d. No. 4 Tsitsipas in 2022 Roland Garros 4th Rd
• d. No. 5 Tsitsipas in 2022 Stockholm F
• d. No. 6 Tsitsipas in 2023 ATP Finals RR
• d. No. 7 Djokovic in 2022 Paris F
• d. No. 8 Auger-Aliassime in 2022 Paris SFs
• d. No. 9 Rublev in 2022 Paris 3rd Rd
• d. No. 10 Sinner in 2022 Sofia SFs

Speaking of the Top 10, Rune—a former world No. 4—will now return to the elite for the first time in almost a year, as he's projected to rise from No. 13 to No. 9 on Monday's new ATP rankings.

It will be his first time in the Top 10 since the week of April 8th, 2024.

And with Alexander Zverev winning the other ATP 500 clay-court tournament this week in Munich, Alcaraz will now dip slightly from No. 2 to No. 3, as Zverev inches back up from No. 3 to No. 2.

They'll be separated by just five ranking points, Zverev with 8,045 and Alcaraz with 8,040. Jannik Sinner is No. 1 with 9,930 ranking points.