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Roger Federer Australian Open 2020

‘Roger Federer was 40 times worse than me,’ claims ATP youngster


Holger Rune has defended his petulant behaviour at the French Open, saying Roger Federer far worse behaved at his age.

Rune lost in the quarter-finals against Casper Ruud, who went on to reach the final.

However, it was a controversial match-up, with 19-year-old Rune often letting his passion get the bets of him on the court.

Things continued after the match too, with the Dane accusing Ruud of ‘shouting in his face’ in the locker room.

Ruud denied it, although it was obvious there was some angst between the two Scandinavians.

Rune, though, has defended his actions from that day, and he says Roger Federer’s early behaviour shows he has little to worry about with regard his image.

“If you saw Roger Federer as a youngster, he was maybe 40 times worse than I was,” Rune said.

Holger Rune French Open 2022

“And he’s one of the most beloved tennis players on the tour – so I think I have plenty of time to get an even better image.

“I have an extreme passion for this sport and sometimes I show it too much. But I’m 19 years old. I’m still young and I work every day to bring out only the positives in my attitude – and that’s a process.

“I just see that as differences and I think that’s great. If all people were the same and think the same, it would be horrible to live in this world.

“It’s great that you think what you want, and you like the character you like.”

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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.