To win the Barcelona Open for the first time in his career, Holger Rune defeated Carlos Alcaraz.
Since April 2023, Rune had not won an ATP championship and had lost his past three finals, including Indian Wells last month.
Nevertheless, Rune has won his first ATP 500 championship after overcoming food illness to defeat opponents like Casper Ruud, Karen Khachanov, and an apparently injured Alcaraz.
A 24-time major champion served as Rune's inspiration for winning the Barcelona Open, he also disclosed after the match.
Alcaraz tried to build on his victory in Monte Carlo last week in their first professional clay-court encounter.
Alcaraz, however, seemed to be having physical difficulties during a fiercely contested opening set, which allowed Rune to win.
Reflecting on the opening set, Rune acknowledged that he was motivated by Djokovic's Olympic victory over Alcaraz following a breakout.
Rune stated during the on-court interview that at the start of the first set, when he was first broken, he had a moment of doubt, wondering how he could possibly beat his opponent.
He then reminded himself that he didn't need to hit every shot perfectly. He also mentioned that he reflected on what Novak had done to win in the past, visualizing the Olympic final in his mind, which he had watched and remembered as an amazing match.
Rune became the sixth player to defeat Alcaraz in a final after conquering the Spaniard to win the Barcelona Open.
These include the previously stated Olympic final triumph, but Djokovic has defeated Alcaraz in other championships as well.
Djokovic is the first player to defeat Alcaraz in multiple finals, having done so after a stunning victory in the 2023 Cincinnati Open final.
Alcaraz will now try to get over his physical problem and prepare for the Madrid Open, which is his next competition.
The 21-year-old, who has won twice in the Spanish city, will be trying to win back his supporters after falling to eventual winner Andrey Rublev in the previous year's quarterfinals.