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Holger Rune suffered a shock loss to Brandon Nakashima in his opening-round match at the 2023 Shanghai Masters. He went down tamely against the American 6-0, 6-2 in a match that lasted just a little over an hour.
The one-sided scoreline is what took many, and now Rune himself by the looks of it, by surprise. The youngster had come into the tournament as a world No. 5 but looked a pale shadow of his best self.
Rune won a lowly 49% points behind and even fewer on return, never really finding his footing on the court. He lost his serve on five occasions to succumb to the straight-sets loss.
A few hours after the match youngster apologized to his fans in China in a social media post, saying he would introspect and work on figuring out the exact areas of his game that needed to be improved.
"I will figure things out and come back fighting again. Whatever it takes. I am truly sorry to let down my supporters yesterday. And to all my fans in China, I can’t wait to see you again and be in great shape next year 🇨🇳 @rolexshmasters is an amazing tournament," Holger Rune wrote.
Rune also vowed to come back stronger after the loss, saying he would love to return to the Shanghai Masters next year.
The Shanghai Masters marked the second consecutive early exit for Rune as the Dane had also bowed out early at the preceding China Open, losing to an inspired Grigor Dimitrov in that second round that time around.
Holger Rune still in the hunt for ATP Finals berth despite Shanghai Masters exit
Despite losing early at the Shanghai Masters, Holger Rune remains in the hunt for a spot in the ATP Finals, scheduled to host the top eight players from the 2023 season at an elite event in Turin next month.
The Dane currently sits at No. 8 with a total of 3,110 points to his name, which is 180 points clear of the next name on the ladder, Taylor Fritz, who has 2,930 points to his name. Things, however, could change quickly as we have a handful of tournaments to go before a final entry list is prepared.
Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner have all already qualified for the season-ending championships.
