Holger Rune had an incredible end to the season and finished 2022 in 11th place in the world rankings. The Danish tennis player won the first Masters 1000 of his career beating 21-time Slam champion Novak Djokovic in one of the best finals of the year.
The Copenhagen native also became the first tennis player to beat five top 10 players – Hubert Hurkacz, Andrey Rublev, Carlos Alcaraz, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Djokovic – in the same tournament since 1973, excluding the ATP Finals.
“I had a lot of idols growing up. Now that I’m a professional player, I strive to be the best version of myself. Even while playing tennis, there are athletes who inspire me – Djokovic is one of them.
The Serbian is a fantastic tennis player and I try to learn a lot of things from him: his ball handling, the precision of his strokes and his fitness,” Rune explained in an interview with Relevant Tennis.
“Winning in Paris against him was incredible. It was a dream final against a rival who I respect a lot for everything he has achieved in the world of tennis. Novak has always been very generous.
As I said before, he is a great inspiration to me. The big three are very special. I was very happy to see Novak win the ATP Finals in Turin and equal Roger Federer in another stat.”
Finally, Rune talked about the goals he will try to achieve next year. “In December, my coach and I set our goals for the following season.
For us, ranking is not just a number. We analyze all the tournaments I plan to play. In 2022, I set myself the goal of reaching the top 25, and I have exceeded it by far.”
Djokovic is an inspiration.
Novak Djokovic recently opened up about the criticism he often receives from the tennis media. “I know people sometimes think I’m fake, that I do certain things because I want to be liked.
That’s not it, I’m just trying to be authentic. It’s something we’re losing,” Djokovic said. “It’s not possible to please everyone, but now political correctness forces us to give up expressing our ideas with respect, without hatred, but with freedom.
Freedom of expression for me today is just an illusion. I had an extraordinary example of that this year, with what happened to me around the issue of vaccines,” Djokovic said.
“I spoke out for the freedom to be able to dispose of his body, and immediately I was accused of being a no-vax, which I am not. If you do not belong to a certain way of thinking, you quickly become the bad guy. That’s not right.”
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