Cast an eye through Holger Rune’s record and there are glittering milestones that many vastly more experienced players would cherish: a top-five ranking, an ATP Masters 1000 title, multiple Grand Slam quarterfinals and wins over the likes of Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz.
And all of it before Rune – already the most successful male player to emerge from Denmark – had turned 21.
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But asked by ausopen.com at the Brisbane International how it feels to have accumulated highlights that many others would love to accomplish by the end of a career – never mind at the start – Rune had a surprising outlook.
“I more think, sh*t, I’m 21, I’m so old!" he laughed. "It’s nice to look back but honestly, I don’t look so much back, I try to stay as long as I can in the present.”
It’s an approach that’s working superbly at Melbourne Park this summer, where the No.13 seed has claimed hard-earned wins over Zhang Zhizhen and Matteo Berrettini to set a third-round meeting with Miomir Kecmanovic.
In his fourth main-draw AO campaign, Rune’s progress has in many ways come down to maturity.
The No.13 seed showcased his mettle when pushed to five sets by 49th-ranked Zhang in his opening match and emerged the winner of a superb-quality match against the resurgent Berrettini – a former world No.6 and the 2021 Wimbledon finalist.
At the end of a near three-and-a-half absorbing hours at John Cain Arena, Rune’s 48 winners were just four more than Berrettini had accumulated. “It was an unbelievable match,” the Dane said of the 7-6(3) 2-6 6-3 7-6(6) victory, in which he withstood a fourth-set fightback from the Italian. “I just tried to stay focused.”
It follows a challenging season for Rune, who achieved his best 2024 result at the very start of the year as a Brisbane finalist. And while that failed to match the peak he achieved as he took down five top-10 players to win the Paris Masters title late in 2022, the fluctuating form provided some important lessons.
“I learnt a lot,” said Rune. “Definitely [the importance] to get some stability in my team, to get back to working the right way physically and on the tennis court. I also learnt something about myself on the tennis court and off the court and the way of playing. Trusting my game style.”
That team for Rune includes lifelong coach Lars Christensen, whom he has referenced alongside his mother, Aneke, as his biggest inspiration.
“They basically are the two people who kind of built me as a tennis player,” Rune explained.
“Like Lars has been with me since I was seven years old and worked together with me, improving my game and making me the player that I am today.
“My mum has been by my side always as well with the mental skills to make me the person that I am today with how I do things, how I go about things, so I’m very happy to have them both.”
Rune also has the support of countryman coach Kenneth Carlsen and fitness trainer Lapo Becherini as he targets his big-picture ambitions of Grand Slam titles and the world No.1 ranking.
Several standout matches – both winning ones and losing ones - are fuelling those goals. At Australian Open 2023, a 19-year-old Rune featured in an unforgettable fourth-round contest with Andrey Rublev, surrendering two match points as the sixth-seeded completed a 6-3 3-6 6-3 4-6 7-6[9] victory.
It halted a five-match win-streak Rune had constructed against top-10 players. “It was obviously heartbreaking at the end for me, but it was a great level,” he reflected. “That was a good memory and great match by Rublev also. I remembered it as a hell of a battle and can’t wait for more of those.”
Rune takes confidence from that memory, along with the many gains he's made in the years since.
“I think I was a different player back then than I am now. I was younger, smaller physically and everything but I was also able to play with the best players in the world,” he reflected. “That’s a great feeling.”
An even better feeling is living the dream that he forged as a young player aspiring to emulate his childhood idols, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
“It’s great to even think back on those memories because there’s so much happiness and joy that I still feel when I step on the tennis court,” Rune added.
“It’s a fantastic feeling – like in a way it is a job, but it doesn’t feel like a job at all. For me, it just feels like I’m living exactly how I want to live and that’s amazing.”