Danish teenager Holger Rune is the latest young tennis talent to sign on for the ASB Tennis Classic in Auckland in the New Year.
Holger Rune Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Rune, who turned professional in 2020, has already climbed to 26th on the ATP World Rankings, after he reached No 1 world junior and is currently the highest rated Danish player since the ATP ranking began 50 years ago.
The 19-year-old joins top-10 ranked players Cameron Norrie and Casper Ruud who have confirmed their entries for the ATP tournament which runs January 9-14.
It follows the WTA women's event which starts on January 2nd at Stanley St in Auckland.
"We have been targeting young players on the rise in world tennis, and we are very excited that Holger has agreed to play in Auckland," said Tournament Director, Nicolas Lamperin.
"Holger is arguably the best tennis product to come out of Denmark and is proving an exciting young player on the rise. He only broke into the top 100 this year, and has beaten the likes of Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, both in the top-six ranked world players, along the way.
"He has a fantastic allround game and is equally strong on hard courts and clay and is sure to be a major threat in the ASB Classic."
Rune turned professional in 2020 and won five times on the ITF Tour and five times on the ATP Challenger before pushing into the top-100 on the ATP Tour in January.
That included victory in the San Remo Challenger event and on the same day, winning his qualifier for the ATP Masters 1000 event at Monte Carlo, 30kms away.
He won his first ATP singles title in Munich this year before reaching the final in Sofia last week. He reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Roland Garros and was also a quarterfinalist in the 1000s tournament in Monte Carlo.
The Danish player has also recently announced that world-renowned coach Patrick Mouratoglou, long-time mentor of Serena Williams, has joined his coaching team.
Rune returns to Auckland having received a wildcard into his first ATP tournament after turning professional in 2020.