"It shouldn't continue to hurt when you are my age" - Holger Rune concerned after wrist injury forces retirement at ABN AMRO Open
Holger Rune expressed his concern over a persistent wrist injury that has forced him to retire from the ABN AMRO Open.
Rune landed badly at the Australian Open back in January during his third-round match against Ugo Humbert, injuring his wrist. It appears that the Dane has been playing with the injury ever since, with wrist issues resurfacing at the ABN AMRO Open.
The World No. 9 faced Gijs Brouwer in the second round of the Rotterdam-based tournament. After losing the first set 6-4, Rune was forced to retire from the match 4-0 down in the second set with pain in his wrist.
Reflecting on the injury after the match, the 19-year-old was concerned about its severity, pointing out that injuries like these should not persist this long for a person his age.
"I'll have to look into it. I have to get it checked again, because of course it shouldn't continue to hurt when you're my age," said Rune to TV 2 Sport.
Rune divulged that he did everything he could to last the match but that the pain was too much to bear towards the end.
"I have played through some pain, but today it hurt more and more as the match progressed, and in the end it hurt too much. I tried all possible methods to make it work," he expressed.
Rune won against Constant Lestienne (6-4, 6-4) in the first round before meeting Brouwer.
"When we look at the end of the game, I am worried" - Kenneth Carlsen on Holger Rune's injury
Former tennis player Kenneth Carlsen is worried about compatriot Holger Rune's injury at the ABN AMRO Open.
In a conversation on TV2 Sports, Carlsen was apprehensive of whether the 19-year-old will be able to recover any time soon from the setback and emphasized the upcoming important tournaments that the player is susceptible to missing out on.
"When we look at the end of the game, I am worried. I want to see if he even starts next week. He has a tough program ahead of him with important tournaments," the former player stated.
He opined that Rune's team should carefully assess his injury and bring him back on tour after a proper recovery.
"You have to take care that Rune does not get overload damage when you are suddenly gone for a long time. And that is what the Rune camp has to assess now here. What type of injury is it? Is it an injury where he recovers quickly or is it an injury where he has to pull out of a tournament or two? So it will be interesting to see how quickly he is ready again," he added.
Given the injury, it is to be seen whether Holger Rune will take part in the ATP Masters 1000 events at Indian Wells and Miami in March.