Casper Ruud's Canadian Open loss aids Holger Rune's rise to career-high ranking; Dane to enter World's top 5 for the first time

Holger Rune will assume a new place in the rankings chart following Casper Ruud’s latest loss at the Canadian Open.

On Thursday, World No. 5 Ruud crashed out of the Canadian Open after losing to Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (4) in the Round of 16.

The Norwegian, who was a semifinalist at the event in 2022, will lose a hefty 270 points owing to the defeat. Casper Ruud will thus have 4715 points to his name come Monday.

Holger Rune, meanwhile, did not perform well at the Canadian Open either. The Dane was knocked out in his opening match against America's Marcos Giron in the second round.

However, the World No. 6 lost just 35 points after receiving a bye in the opening round, having similarly bowed out from the Round of 32 stage last year as well. Rune will thus hold on to the previously collected total of 4790 points when the rankings are refreshed on Monday.

Holgar Rune will hold a 75-point lead over Casper Ruud and will replace the fellow Scandinavian as the World No. 5 at the end of the weekend. The coming week will mark Rune’s first time as a top-five player.

Meanwhile, the upcoming Cincinnati Masters will see Rune in a tight battle with Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud, and Andrey Rublev to earn the World No. 4 spot and a subsequent fourth seeding at the US Open.

World No. 8 Jannik Sinner, who is still in contention for the Canadian Open title, is likely to pose a threat as well.

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"For me, it's more about the tournaments" – Holger Rune on prioritizing titles over rankings

Holger Rune will be ranked World No. 5 after Casper Ruud's Canadian Open loss

Holger Rune recently revealed what he prioritized when measuring his success. The 20-year-old stated that he mainly takes into account his personal improvement before considering his ranking growth.

“Firstly, improvement – on my game, my physicality, because that’s what I can control 100 percent. From thereon, probably ranking goals,” he confessed during a recent Canadian Open press conference.

The Paris Masters champion, however, stated that it is his team that is insistent about the ranking, while he himself is focused on winning titles.

“It’s more, like, the team and coaches I have behind me that [say], ‘At this point we would like to see you at this place in the ranking, and at the end of the year – this.’” he said.

“Me myself, I’m more motivated to win tournaments. I mean, I would rather win a Grand Slam and be 6th in the world than not be winning a Grand Slam and being No. 1 in the world. For me, it’s more about the tournaments,” the World No. 6 added.

It is worth noting that the soon-to-be World No. 5 Holger Rune was ranked outside the World’s top 100 early last year. The youngster has witnessed a meteoric rise since, having won four career titles, including the 2022 Paris Masters.

He has featured in four other finals, including the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters and the Rome Masters. Rune has also made it to three Grand Slam quarterfinals at the French Open (2022, 2023) and Wimbledon (2023).