Holger Rune showed glimpses of his bottomless pit of talent during a hard-fought victory over Alex Michelsen on Monday.
The Dane, possibly the most talented player on the ATP Tour aside from Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, struggled for form during the grass season and was even labelled as ‘immature’ before his Wimbledon campaign began.
However, Rune has since found some semblance of form, performing well so far at the Cincinnati Open.
The 22-year-old defeated American hope Alex Michelsen on Monday. Michelsen, who reached the Canadian Open quarter-finals, could not find a way past Rune, who won 7-6 6-3.
Rune was seen working with former Wimbledon champion Andre Agassi during the Washington Open, and Rune revealed to the Tennis Channel on Monday that he and Agassi are still in contact.
The Dane also highlighted the influence of another tennis legend on his game: Andy Murray.
Holger Rune thought about Andy Murray’s return game during his win over Alex Michelsen
Speaking to the Tennis Channel on Monday, Rune revealed he thought about Andy Murray during his victory over Michelsen; specifically the Briton’s return game.
Andy Murray’s return game is one of the best in history, alongside the likes of Novak Djokovic and Rune’s current informal mentor, Andre Agassi, who plagued Boris Becker with his sharp returning in the 1990s.
Rune, who faces Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round, said: “A lot of stuff like I did today. Not playing spectacular on every point but playing solid and also getting misses from the opponent; I don’t need to win every point but still play with purpose.
“Then I think we’re working a lot on the serve. Trying to put more first serves with the same intensity and also on the return.
“I thought I made a lot of returns today. I don’t know the stats but I think that automatically puts more pressure on a guy like Alex as well.
“I actually thought a little bit about Andy Murray because I was like ‘he makes so many returns’ and it’s actually better to make a little dirty chip on the service line than to miss it, you know, and going for something. So that’s what I thought about, yeah.”
Rune and Murray played together in the 2023 Brisbane Open Men’s Doubles tournament. Although the pair fought valiantly, they lost in the first round to Aslan Karatsev and Roman Safiullin on a third set tiebreak: 6-4 3-6 5-10.
Rune reveals what Michelsen did that gave him ‘confidence’
Speaking during the same interview, Rune was asked to grade his grit and determination while competing in the sweltering conditions of Cincinnati.
Rune said: “On the ‘dog’, attitude and everything, I give myself a nine [out of 10].
“Pretty high. I think that was actually the key factor today because conditions were really tough for both of us so sometimes I looked at him and saw how he was feeling and I was like okay he’s struggling also.
“But I feel like after the first set and the first point of the second set, it gave me a lot of confidence seeing him rushing the net (smiling). It was just a great match.
“He’s a very talented young player so it was nice to finally share the court with him and yeah, just happy with the win.”
