Holger Rune just suffered a devastating injury at the 2025 Stockholm Open, and his fellow players aren’t staying quiet about it. They’re calling out the ATP, and they’re pretty angry.
Rune had just made it back into the Top 10 thanks to his semi-final run in Stockholm. But now? He’s looking at starting almost from scratch.
The young Danish star will miss at least six months after needing surgery on his Achilles. That’s a career-altering injury for someone who was just hitting his stride.
| Name | Age | Points | Stats 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holger Rune | 22 | 2,540 | 22 - 12 |
Players Are Fed Up
Tennis players have been complaining about the calendar being way too long for months now. Rune’s injury just made those complaints a lot louder.
Jack Draper didn’t waste any time jumping on X (formerly Twitter) after watching Rune leave the court in tears.
Draper knows what he’s talking about. He’s currently sidelined himself, having ended his 2025 season early due to injury. The guy’s dealt with his fair share of physical setbacks, so seeing another young player go down hit pretty hard.
"Injuries are going to happen… we are pushing our bodies to do things they aren’t supposed to in elite sport. We have so many incredible younger guys on the tour right now and I’m proud to be apart of that, however, the tour and the calendar have to adapt if any of us are gonna achieve some sort of longevity…"
Fritz Jumps In
Taylor Fritz saw Draper’s post and immediately responded. The American went deeper into the problem, explaining something most fans don’t realize.
It’s not just about playing too much. The equipment is making everything worse.
"Facts, also seeing more injuries and burnout now than ever before because balls, courts, conditions have slowed down a lot making the weekly grind even more physically demanding and tough on the body."
That caught some fans’ attention. Wait, aren’t courts getting faster?
The Ball Problem Nobody Talks About
Fritz was ready for that question. He broke down something that even longtime tennis fans might not understand.
It’s all about the balls.
"Balls make a much bigger difference on how fast the court plays than the actual court speed. Shanghai last year had a very high CPI but the slow balls we used made it play slow. This year the balls were still slow and they also slowed the courts and it was brutal."
Fritz got pretty technical about this. He explained that every ball they use – except for the US Open ball used in Toronto, Cincinnati, and the US Open – is "much slower and more dead" compared to when he started his career.
"A lot of people struggle to differentiate between slow ball / slow court. It’s only something I have picked up in recent years. It’s easy to play with a slow ball and just think the court is slow when maybe it’s not, and vice versa."
He gave a perfect example of how this confusion happens at tournaments.
"A good example of this is that I heard someone play tested the ball for Shanghai prior to the Shanghai event and said it was a fast ball, and that is one of the reasons Shanghai slowed the court down. I can assure you whoever play tested the ball did so on a lightning-fast court and couldn’t differentiate the two, so they thought the ball was fast."
The Schedule Trap
Some fans called Fritz out, saying he can’t complain about the calendar if he chooses to play so much. But Fritz had a pretty good comeback.
He’s not really choosing.
"Ya, because of a new ATP rule, I’ve had to play every 500 event post Wimbledon to meet the new quota they have set of 500’s played in a year to not get a ranking penalty."
That’s a new ATP rule that basically forces top players to compete more. Miss too many 500-level tournaments? You get hit with ranking penalties.
Fritz also pointed out something interesting about exhibition events versus regular tournaments:
"Also, it’s funny because the Laver Cup is 3 days, and so is this event. I’ve played 2 events for a total of 5 singles matches and 6 days total. Idk why we are acting like playing one of these events is the same as playing 5/6 matches over 2 weeks?"
What’s Next?
It’s pretty clear that tennis players are really unhappy with the current situation. Between the packed calendar, equipment changes, and new rules forcing them to play more, injuries like Rune’s might become more common.
The big question now is whether the ATP will actually listen to the players’ feedback and make some changes. With stars like Draper and Fritz speaking out publicly, the pressure is definitely building.
For Rune, though, the damage is already done. Six months on the sidelines is a long time in tennis, especially for someone who was just breaking into the sport’s elite level.
