Holger Rune defends himself after Zoff at the French Open with Casper Ruud: “Roger Federer was 40 times worse”

About two weeks later, the displeasure is long forgotten, the hatchet seems to be buried. However, Rune opened up to “Ekstra Bladet” and made an interesting comparison.

According to Rune, it is quite understandable that, especially as a young player on the ATP tour, you are not always in control of your own emotions – freaking out is therefore part of everyday life. Even today’s grandees of sport would have allowed themselves one or the other faux pas during their first steps. Among them: Roger Federer.

“If you saw Roger Federer as a youngster, he was maybe 40 times worse than me,” Rune said. “And he’s one of the most popular tennis players on the tour – so I think I still have a lot of time to build a better image,” he said.

Rune saw that he went too far in Paris. “I have an extreme passion for this sport and sometimes I show it too much. But I’m 19 years old. I’m still young and I work every day to only emphasize the positive in my attitude – and it’s a process ” he further explained.

Federer’s ex-trainer supports Rune’s statements

Rune’s claims are consistent with statements made by Madeleine Bärlocher, Federer’s former coach. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Bärlocher was at the side of the now 20-time Grand Slam champion.

Bärlocher described the young Federer as “moody” about a year ago. If everything ran smoothly for the Swiss, everything was fine. “Then when he started the big tournaments, he didn’t progress as quickly. Suddenly he was frustrated on the ground and often threw his racquet,” she revealed.

Like Rune, Federer also cursed a lot. But that is “the lot of the young players”, showed understanding for any outbursts of the players.