'Healthy' Holger Rune says he's 'back on track' ahead of China Open

A "healthy" Holger Rune says he's "back on track" after a back injury derailed his post-Wimbledon efforts this season.

The Dane, currently ranked world No. 4, is set to return to competition this week at the China Open, hoping to snap a seven match losing streak dating back to a quarterfinal loss at the All England Club to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz. Rune's slump in form can be traced back to physical struggles, having told Danish TV at Davis Cup earlier this month that he had a pinched nerve in the fifth lumbar vertebra in his spine since the clay-court season.

"I know it can be fixed and I get to spend my time fixing it now," he said. "I can feel that I can’t play at the level I want, even if I want to and am willing to give 100%, I can’t get the same speed in the serve and get the free points I want."

But the 20-year-old is refreshed and ready to take on the Asian swing for the first time in his career, if a recent Instagram post is anything to go by. The Dane shared snaps from his time off in Monaco and Denmark, featuring practice videos, physiotherapy, and family time with his sister Alma and rumored new girlfriend Caroline Donzella.

"A little bit of everything from this week," he wrote, with flags of the two countries. "Good recovery and feeling healthy again. Thank you to everyone helping me this week to get back on track. Now off to China looking forward."

Rune will also make his touring return without Patrick Mouratoglou in his coaching camp. On Sept. 2, Mouratoglou confirmed with a statement on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, that the pair's on-and-off partnership was over for good.

The pair worked together for six months, from last October to this April, and teamed up again ahead of the clay-court season. In that time, Mouratoglou was co-head coach with Lars Christensen, Rune's longtime coach, and Christensen will be steering the ship solo again when Rune returns to the tour.

Rune's mother and manager, Anke Rune, also told Danish newspaper "Ekstra Bladet" that Rune's reunification with Christensen was most welcome.

"It's great to have Lars on again, they work super well together," Anke Rune said. "I am happy on Holger's behalf, because it has been a tough year with lots of mess and disturbing elements, and yet he has climbed up the rankings.

"But everyone knows that he can do even more than where he is now, so it's great to see that the base for development is there again."

Rune is seeded third this week in Beijing, where he'll be making his tournament debut. The event was last played in 2019, and Rune is slotted in the draw behind Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev.