At the age of 22, Holger Rune is already one of the most promising young talents on the ATP Tour.
The Danish star has already captured five ATP titles in his short career so far, including the Paris Masters title in 2022.
Most recently, Rune reached the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals, where he lost to Monegasque revelation Valentin Vacherot.
Although Rune is yet to reach the heights of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, he remains one of the few players who can seriously challenge those two players on any given day.
Rune’s quality is recognised by one of his former coaches, Patrick Mouratoglou, who coached the young Dane between 2022 and 2023, and again in 2024.
Patrick Mouratoglou says Holger Rune ‘didn’t hit one ball in’ during a warm-up
Patrick Mouratoglou, the iconic French coach who worked with Serena Williams for a decade, revealed a story from his time working with Rune.
“Holger’s story – unbelievable,” Mouratoglou said on his Instagram account.
“So we go to the tournaments and the warm-up before the match, he doesn’t hit one ball in.
“He goes flat, every ball, full power. Everywhere but in the court. And I think, ‘what the f*** is that.’ And then he goes to the match, plays completely different, and wins.
“Okay, let’s do the same tomorrow!
“He was 30 in the world [2022] and he comes to me and he says ‘okay I have a 250, a 500 and a 1000 in a row. My goal is to win those three so I can play the Masters [ATP Finals].
“I mean, the guy just lost six or nine times in the first round in a row and he thinks he’s going to win the three? And he really believes it.
“Won the 250, final of the 500, won the 1000, beating five top 10 including Novak in the final and Alcaraz in quarters.
“If he believes…”
Did Rune qualify for the 2022 ATP Finals?
Despite his marvellous run to end 2022, Holger Rune did not make the ATP Finals cut.
Rune was the first alternate for the tournament, meaning he would have been the first replacement had any of his peers withdrawn from the competition.
American star Taylor Fritz pipped Rune to the eighth spot and ended up reaching the semi-final stage.
Novak Djokovic won the tournament, defeating Casper Ruud 7-5, 6-3 in the final.
