Rune eyes ATP Finals with progressive approach

BEIJING -- Holger Rune is working diligently to qualify for the year-ending ATP Finals, adopting a progressive approach: to improve slightly every day.

The 20-year-old Dane enters as the third seed at the China Open, aiming to accumulate as many points as possible in the race to the Finals in Turin, Italy.

Rune, currently ranked eighth in the ATP Final Race, said he will focus on his own performances rather than others'.

"Definitely one of the goals is to be able to get into Turin, the Finals, at the end of the year," he said.

"There are still many tournaments with a lot of points included to end the season," he said.

"There are 500 points here (Beijing), 1,000 points next week......there is plenty of points, so I'm going to try to focus on what I do instead of what everybody else is doing."

Rune said he is attempting to move toward his goal by gradually improving his game.

"I'm trying to progress as fast as possible, every day a little bit more and more and more."

"That's my focus. Like one percent better every day, that's what I'm seeking for," he said.

He is in a confident mood after having recovered from a back injury.

"I was struggling with back injury for a while. I got it fixed. I played a lot of tournaments with a lot of pain in my back," he said.

"I got to stop and fix it, not come back to playing tournaments until I'm one hundred percent. That's also why I'm here. I'm ready to go and get excited for what's to come," he said.

In the first round of the China Open, Rune will play against Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime, a player he called tough.

"It's going to be a great match, I think. He is a tough player. He's been doing really well," he said.

"I'm going to have to put him under a lot of pressure because when he gets the time to play, he's very dangerous," he said.