In the zone: Holger Rune arrives on ATP center stage with Paris triumph

WATCH: Rune served notice with a historic week in Bercy, defeating five Top 10 opponents to win his first Masters title.

“My heart was almost in my brain,” Holger Rune said when he was asked how it felt to try to serve out his first Masters 1000 final, against Novak Djokovic, in Bercy on Sunday.

Rune should try to keep it there, because his heart and brain combined to produce what may have been the most mind-boggling, and promising, service hold of 2022. To do it, the 19-year-old saved six break points—three of them with winning shots—against the best returner in tennis history, at 6-5 in the third set, before a full house of fans who had trouble keeping themselves quiet long enough to let him serve the ball.

By persevering through all of that, the unseeded Rune put a fitting cap on one of the most improbable, spectacular—and, to at least one opponent, annoying—weeks of tennis this season. Over the course of seven days, Rune beat five Top 10 opponents, a Masters 1000 record. He flatly out-played ATP No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, before Alcaraz was forced to retire in a second-set tiebreaker. He ended Félix Auger-Aliassime’s three-tournament win streak. He came back from a set down against five-time Bercy champ Djokovic. And in the first round, he saved three match points against Stan Wawrinka, who told him to stop being a “baby” on the court.

Playing-wise, if not behavior-wise, Rune took that advice to heart. He started the week as a young, unseeded hopeful, an overemotional kid who was still learning to construct points and deploy his weapons effectively. He ended it in the Top 10. Suddenly, just as one 19-year-old—Alcaraz—was staking his claim to be the future of the ATP, another 19-year-old has come along to challenge that claim.

I just tried to use my young power, willpower, to do everything I can to put him under pressure,” Rune said. “I played great in the important moments today, and that was what made the difference. Holger Rune

“It’s quite incredible, to stay here with the trophy, it’s an amazing feeling,” Rune said. “Something that was tough to expect, starting the week off having three match points down. Then now to be able to be here with this beautiful trophy is absolutely amazing feeling.”

The key against Djokovic, Rune said, was “to be brave and be solid at the same time.”

“I had to tell myself to calm down, but still, you know, believe in my serve and go for my shots. I’m not going to beat him just by pushing the ball back.”

Rune erred on the side of bravery in the first set, when he went for two huge second serves, missed both, and was broken. But he found the balance early in the second, and never lost it after that. He found the corners with his serve when he needed to. He stepped in and belted his returns deep and with pace. He stayed solid with his forehand, rolling it high with topspin, and used his backhand as his kill shot. If he wasn’t drilling it down the line for winners, he was dropping it just over the net, and just out of his opponent’s reach. It was, in many ways, a Djokovichian performance, with an added layer of youthful bravado and go-for-broke risk.

“I just tried to use my young power, willpower, to do everything I can to put him under pressure,” Rune said. “I played great in the important moments today, and that was what made the difference.”

The most Djokovic-like aspect of this match was the way Rune ended up on top in a topsy-turvy contest that could easily have gone either way. Down 1-3 in the third set, with Djokovic serving at 30-0, Rune hit two passing-shot winners and broke. At 5-5, Rune tracked down a Djokovic drop shot and managed to push it down the line, over the high part of the net; Djokovic, expecting a crosscourt ball, wasn’t ready for it. Finally, in the last game, it looked like Rune would crack at last. He became tentative from the baseline for the first time, and double faulted on his first match point. But he held anyway.

“I really stayed in the moment,” Rune said. “After I got broken in the third, I was there. I tried to make him play on every return, was good enough to get the break.”

Another veteran player in Djokovic’s position may have brushed past Rune with a quick handshake after such a frustrating defeat. But Novak went the other way, giving him a hug and telling him he liked his attitude and was happy to see him playing so well—no “stop being a baby” comments from the Serb.

As far as his own week went, Djokovic seemed satisfied. He made a Masters 1000 final, he edged Stefanos Tsitsipas in an excellent semifinal, and he nearly came back 24 hours later and did the same against an opponent 16 years his junior. If Rune announced himself as a Grand Slam contender this week, Djokovic announced that he’s not going anywhere in 2022 himself.

They are very complete players for 19-year-olds. It’s quite impressive. Also their energy on the court, just wanting, motivating themselves and wanting to do well and staying mentally present, it’s impressive. Novak Djokovic on Holger Rune and Carlos Alcaraz

“You win some; some you lose,” Djokovic said. “Yesterday I could have easily lost the match against Tsitsipas but I won. Today I didn’t. That’s OK. It was a very good week.”

Asked about Rune and Alcaraz, Djokovic said this:

“They are very complete players for 19-year-olds. It’s quite impressive. Also their energy on the court, just wanting, motivating themselves and wanting to do well and staying mentally present, it’s impressive.”

The question now for Rune may be: Was he redlining in Bercy, or is this a game he can replicate week after week, indoors and outdoors? We don’t know yet. What we do know is that, as Djokovic said, Rune can already do everything. He can attack and defend. He can bail himself out with his serve, and pressure his opponent with his return. And when he has an open court or a putaway smash, he doesn’t miss it, even when he’s under intense pressure.

Most important of all, though, is Rune’s need to win, which is the same no matter who he faces. If he keeps his heart in his brain, he’s going to have many more weeks like this one.