Nearly six months. That’s how long it has been since Holger Rune last appeared on the court. During the Stockholm Open in October last year, he sustained a horrific ACL injury in a semifinal clash against Ugo Humbert. And the injury couldn’t have come at a worse time, given that he was dominating the event. However, despite the setback, the Dane is determined to return as soon as possible and has now provided a fresh update on his comeback.

“It is tough to say. There is a rough time frame, and it could be by the end of clay season, could be grass season. It is somewhere in between, but it is tough to say. As I said at the beginning, it really depends on how fast I go through the rehab and the journey now,” Rune said on the Tales from Tennis podcast.

“Also, after I’m ready to play, I need to practice a little bit. I’m not just going to ‘Ok, I’m ready in my Achilles, now I’m going to play.’ I need to train probably around a month on the court fully before I feel ready, and maybe that’s less, maybe that’s more, I don’t know,” he continued.

Going by his statement, it appears that the rapid recovery process he underwent has paid off. It was initially suspected that the injury would keep him out for at least a year, but it looks like he will recover sooner than expected.

With the clay-court season running from April to June and the grass-court season running from June to July, Rune is expected to be back in the next 3-4 months. The 22-year-old may fail to make it back by the French Open, which begins in May, but will be hoping to make his comeback by Wimbledon, as he has previously been successful at the Grand Slam.

He had made it to the quarterfinals of the tournament in 2023, equaling his best-ever run in a Grand Slam. The Dane had also made it to the last 8 of the French Open in both 2022 and 2023. Another reason why Rune would want to get back into action as soon as possible is to improve his declining rank.

Holger Rune is eager to return and protect his ranking

The former World No. 4 very well knows how difficult it is to be among the very best in the world. Though he was expected to rise further in the rankings by the end of 2025, the injury ruined everything for him. Due to his absence, he has already fallen to 28th in the ATP Rankings, and this ranking will only drop as he continues to miss matches regularly.

Though Rune’s ranking is still good at this stage, he is eager to protect it from going down even further and is looking forward to his comeback.

“It depends on my feeling, but the good thing is that I think my ranking will still be decent, and then you always have to protect the ranking to help you a little bit, and that’s nice. But I’m curious to be back to see how everything’s gonna be, and looking so much forward to it. It’s what I love to do, so I just can’t wait,” he concluded.

Luckily for Rune, he can afford to miss some of the upcoming tournaments and still maintain a decent rank. Notably, even if he drops 500 points from his current tally, he will still find himself in the top 40.

It remains to be seen when the Dane will make his long-awaited return to the court and whether he will be able to significantly improve his ranking by delivering the top-class performances we saw from him before his unfortunate injury.