Holger Rune does not know exactly what awaits him when he walks onto court for Denmark’s Davis Cup tie against Bulgaria.
“I don’t know how my body will react,” the 23-year-old said ahead of the tie in Hillerød.
“I’ve been training incredibly hard in the run-up to this and my game is improving with every passing day.”
Rune has not played a competitive match since the second set of a Stockholm Open semi-final against Ugo Humbert on 18 October 2025. He was helped from the court after rupturing the proximal part of his left Achilles tendon, and surgery followed days later.
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From surgery to home soil
The comeback tie was picked deliberately. Rune had eyed the clay swing earlier in 2026 and then a US Open return, but withdrew from both. He confirmed the Davis Cup date on Instagram on 8 September: “I am thrilled. I am so excited. It has been 11 months of hard work and I can’t wait to see all my fans and all the Danish people and all the fans around the world again,” Rune said in the video announcement.
Denmark host Bulgaria in the World Group I tie at the Royal Stage in Hillerød, with the opening two singles rubbers starting at 4pm local time on Friday and the doubles opening play at 12 noon local time on Saturday. Rune is down for the second singles against Iliyan Radulov. Grigor Dimitrov leads the Bulgarian team.
Alcaraz sessions in Murcia
Part of the build-up was spent in Spain. Rune trained with Carlos Alcaraz in Murcia in August to test his level against a top opponent. He had considered a US Open return off the back of those sessions but decided he was not yet ready for best-of-five-set matches after the Achilles rupture and a separate knee problem earlier in 2026, Tennis Now reported.
The nerves are there.
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“Of course I’m nervous. There are a lot of butterflies in my stomach now that I’m finally going out there to compete again,” Rune said in the same reporting.
He is picking up sharpness by the day.
“I played better on Tuesday than I did on Monday, and better on Wednesday than on Tuesday,” he added.
Denmark’s team also includes Elmer Møller, August Holmgren, Carl Emil Overbeck and Johannes Ingildsen. First serve at the Royal Stage is at 4pm local time on Friday.
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