Carlos Alcaraz reacts to meeting childhood doubles partner and Next Gen rival Holger Rune in 2022 Paris Masters quarterfinals

2022 US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz has reacted to meeting his childhood doubles partner and ATP Next Gen rival Holger Rune in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Paris Masters.

Both Alcaraz and Rune have had a stellar run at the ongoing Masters 100 tournament in Paris. The Spaniard qualified for the last eight by defeating Yoshihito Nishioka and Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets in the second and third rounds, respectively. Meanwhile, the Dane beat Stan Wawrinka, Hubert Hurkacz and Andrey Rublev in the first three rounds to set up a quarterfinal clash with World No. 1 Alcaraz.

In light of this, Alcaraz took to social media to share his excitement at playing Rune. The 19-year-old used an emoji, rather than words, to indicate that he was looking forward to the match.

This will be their second meeting on the ATP tour. In an old YouTube video, the two can be seen playing doubles in the famous 14-and-under tournament 'Les Petits As' in Tarbes, France. Alcaraz later defeated Rune in straight sets at the Next Gen Finals in Milan last year.

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"I’m excited; hopefully, it’s going to be like Roger and Rafa" - Holger Rune on his budding rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune pictured at the Next Gen ATP Finals.

Holger Rune, in an interview with the ATP, stated that he intends to develop a healthy rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz in the years to come, possibly even one as historic as the rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

"I’m excited, hopefully it’s going to be like Roger and Rafa, it could be great, that’s what we’re seeking for to be the greatest players of all time and to be the greatest players we can be," Rune said.

"For my side I’m just trying to fulfil my potential and be as great as I can be everyday and be one percent better every time I step on the practice court," he added.

Rune also recently discussed his and Alcaraz's use of drop shots during the Stockholm Open. In a video for The Slice Tennis, he claimed that they are used to each other's drop shots and have always used them when competing.

"Yeah, not really. We haven’t talked about it but yeah, I mean, I played him tons of times in juniors and we always did drop shots against each other, so I think it’s something that we’ve always done. And yeah, I mean, now we, I mean, he [Carlos Alcaraz] learned obviously to put them in the right way, because he has big shots and you know, he can mix it up," he stated.