When it comes to his injury
Tennis star tears up in interview
12/27/2025 – 1:13 p.mReading time: 3 minutes
In October, Holger Rune tore his Achilles tendon on the court. Even when he talks about this moment over two months later, the Danish top professional becomes emotional.
On October 18th, time stood still for a brief moment. Holger Rune was injured in the semi-finals of the ATP tournament in Stockholm – and then said a sentence that didn’t bode well: “I think I tore my Achilles tendon.”
Just a few seconds earlier, the Dane had been on his way to the final when he suddenly limped and shortly afterwards sat down on his bench in pain. He hid his face first under his cap, then under his hands. The hall reacted in shock. His mother Aneke and coach Lars Christensen also watched the moment in disbelief from the stands.
The diagnosis followed a little later: rupture of the left Achilles tendon – a serious injury that can jeopardize the career of a top athlete.
A good two months later, the 22-year-old started his rehabilitation in Qatar – at the renowned Aspetar Sports Hospital. The progress is significant, but the memory of the moment in Stockholm runs deep. Holger Rune: “I almost get goosebumps when I see it. It was an unpleasant experience. As soon as it happened, I heard a crack in my foot.”
He quickly felt that something was wrong: “The heel felt strange, as if it was gone. I no longer had a connection from the lower leg to the Achilles tendon and the heel.” His reaction: “Okay, shit. That’s not good.”
In an interview with TV 2, Rune, who was ranked eleventh in the world at the time of the injury, clearly finds it difficult to talk about the injury. “Phew, that’s hard to say,” he says, having to interrupt and fighting back tears. Tennis was his life, says Rune – and suddenly it was taken away from him for a moment. “It’s actually hard to talk about it now,” he repeats later.