Holger Rune achieved an almost meteoric rise to the global tennis elite. As strong as he presents himself in sport on the pitch, his behavior is often controversial. Rune is currently preparing for the traditional Masters tournament in Monte Carlo (April 8-16).
If Holger Rune were walking around as a normal boy in his Danish hometown of Gentofte, a wealthy and conservative suburb of Copenhagen, some parents would probably warn against him. After all, the 19-year-old is cheeky, doesn’t let himself be said much and is someone who is commonly referred to as “rascal” would denote.
However, Rune has been very rarely at home for a long time. And in the neighborhood, the young Dane is likely to enjoy the highest reputation. Because Rune is now one of the top ten tennis players in the world and currently ranks eighth in the world rankings – and the trend is rising. “I would like Roland Garros win and see myself together with Alcaraz and Sinner as part of the future big three“Rune said at the end of March in an interview with the Italian newspaper “Gazetta dello Sport“.
Rune offends
His self-confidence is apparently as great as his ambition. However, Rune underpins this self-image with remarkable facts. The former number one for young people entered the top 100 in the world for the first time in January 2022. At his age, that alone is a remarkable achievement that thousands of great talents can only dream of. However, by the end of the year he was already in the top 10. A breathtaking development.
This rapid progress, however, did not happen without Rune offending. He is a strong, punchy tennis player who is not afraid to take risks and attacks whenever possible. His punches hit the opponent with a bang. But his harsh words sometimes also affect his supporters. When the going gets tough and Rune’s mistakes take over, pent-up emotions sometimes burst out from the hothead.
Mother Aneke gets a lot
Often the first to suffer is Rune’s mother Aneke, who in such situations has to listen to many unpleasant sentences and often ignores them with motherly love. The (over) pressure that Holger Rune obviously feels in difficult game situations then breaks through unfiltered.
Tennis player Holger Rune (right) with mother Aneke
Both French Open Last year, however, the son overdid it and repeatedly asked the mother to leave the court during the match against the Norwegian Casper Ruud, which Aneke Rune then did. However, she subsequently sat on the edge of the court at each of her son’s games.
Rune wants to put on “a show”.
Rune’s phased uninhibitedness, the loss of control and a trace of arrogance are probably primarily due to his young age and his lack of experience in dealing with difficult situations in the best possible way.
“I’m not arrogant, I’m just passionate about what I do. Sometimes I’m too dogged and I make mistakes, but I try to correct them,” Rune said recently. “I want to win, but I also want to put on a show on the pitch. I think it’s very positive that there’s a variety of characters on the tour, otherwise it would all be very boring.”
However, his emotional outbursts are met with incomprehension by his competitors on the tennis circuit.
Clear words from Wawrinka to Rune
At the Masters in Paris 2022, one of three tournaments that the Dane was able to win spectacularly, the three-time Swiss player drew Grand Slam– Winner Stan Warinka (38) after his narrow defeat Rune approached himself shaking hands on the net and said clear words to him: “My advice to you: stop acting like a baby on the pitch.”
But Rune wouldn’t be himself if he didn’t have an answer ready. When the two meet again, this time at the tournament in Indian Wells/California In early March, Rune walked away the winner and then openly provocatively asked Wawrinka if he had anything to say now.
“The only thing I can add is that he’s a young player, already a very big champion with huge potential. But he’s building a reputation in the locker room that he’ll regret one day.”Wawrinka later told the French newspaper “L’Equipe“, when he had calmly considered a reply.
The competitors in Monte Carlo will be looking very closely to see whether the young Dane will only make headlines there with sporting successes.