An unknown Danish teenager Holger Rune on Sunday produced a shocking defeat against experienced Novak Djokovic, before he went on to win his first ever Paris Masters title.
The pulsating encounter ended 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in favour of the Danish young tennis player.
With the victory, Rune moved into ATP Tour top 10.
Talking about how it all went down, the 19-year-old Rune outlasted Djokovic in a match that lasted 153 minutes in Paris to seal his third title in what has been a breakout year.
Rune’s victory over the six-time title winner in Paris marked his fifth successive win over a top 10 player this week, making him the first man to get five top 10 wins in a row during the same single-week tournament.
The Danish player made history as the first man to beat five top 10 players in a row during the same week at a tournament – not including the top eight ATP Finals.
He will now become a top 10 player himself when the rankings update on Monday, starting the season outside of the world’s top 100.
The teenager will also be the first alternate for the ATP Finals in Turin, with the prestigious season-ending tournament starting in seven days.
It means Djokovic has now lost his first match at an official tournament in more than five months, with his last defeat also coming in Paris to Rafael Nadal at the French Open.
Barring a defeat at the Laver Cup, the Serb had not lost since – helped in part by his ban from playing in North America as an unvaccinated traveller.
He had also not lost a match at the Paris Masters since the 2018 final, winning the title in 2019 and 2021, and not playing in 2020.
