“I hate the best-ever debate”

Holger Rune has become one of the emerging stars of tennis in this 2022. After his irruption at Roland Garros (with the occasional controversial episode in the middle of the game), the Dane knocked on the doors of the elite after his victory at the Masters 1,000 in Paris, which allowed him to climb to tenth place in the ATP ranking. .

Rune gave an interview to the British outlet Express before facing the 2023 season and was blunt when answering the question about the best in tennis history. “I don’t think anything about it, I hate the debate of who is the debate of the best in history and who has won the most titles, who has won the most Grand Slams or who has been number one the longest. That does not mean that Nadal, Djokovic and Federer have been incredible. They have achieved historic things and have shown the following generations that anything is possible.”

However Rune believes that the achievements of Nadal, Djokovic, Federer and Murray force the new generations to work harder to surpass them. “Records are to be broken. And now these guys have made us work harder to break those records. That’s good for the future of tennis, and the level will continue to grow even more”.

The Dane also believes that the successes of the ‘Big Four’ have contributed to the fact that young tennis players are so talented, and he hopes that both he and Carlos Alcaraz can continue to shine on the circuit. “I think that players like Federer, Djokovic or Murray have taught us the very high level of tennis and that has made young people so good today. I hope that Carlos Alcaraz and I can continue like this in tennis, raising our level even higher. I think it’s possible.”

Lastly, Rune believes that both he and Alcaraz are in a position to stand up to Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the big tournaments starting in 2023. “I think that Alcaraz and I can compete against Djokovic and Nadal in the big tournaments. I’m glad they’re still here because there’s no doubt they’ve set the bar very high.” Only time will tell if the 2023 season will be the changing of the guard in tennis, with Alcaraz and Rune as the greatest exponents.