Rune ending 2020 with a flourish in Turkey
Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune won his third title in four months on the ITF World Tennis Tour on Sunday after Austrian teen Filip Misolic was forced to retire in the Antalya final while trailing 6-0 4-0.
The seventeen-year-old Dane, who has won 30 of the 45 professional matches he’s played in 2020, added the M15 Antalya crown to his victories at M25 Klosters in September and M15 Valldoreix last month.
The former junior world No. 1 plans to play one more M15 tournament in Turkey this week before heading home for the holiday season.
He can look back on a hugely satisfying 2020 season where he more than held his own while transitioning to the men’s professional tour, much of which he has documented as part of a regular blog series for the ITF. Read his latest blog here.
Meanwhile, both Frenchman Antoine Cornut Chauvinc and Turkey’s Ergi Kirkin have also found that winning feeling.
Two months after winning his first professional singles title on home carpet at M15 Forbach, 20-year-old Chauvinc was at it again at M15 Madrid, defeating Spaniard Alvaro Lopez San Martin 6-4 7-6(5) in the final to win his first clay court title.
Kirkin, 21, also achieved a repeat triumph, winning his second straight title - the fourth of his career - at M15 Monastir after beating Frenchman Titouan Droguet 6-3 6-1 in the title match.
Elsewhere, 23-year-old Swiss Johan Nikles won his first title of the year - the third of his career - at M15 Cairo after seeing off Spaniard Carlos Sanchez Jover 6-1 5-7 6-3.
USA’s Oliver Crawford, 21, won his second pro title - and first since 2018 - at M15 Santo Domingo. The former junior world No. 9, who reached the last eight at the US Open junior event in 2017, was contesting his first tournament since November 2019.