Teenage Dane vows to fight fire with some heat of his own
NOVAK Djokovic has not dropped a match since October. The last man to beat him? Holger Rune, the top-10 seed of whom you have never heard.
You would be forgiven for not recognising his name. This time last year, the teen from Denmark had only cracked the world’s top 100.
But after triumphs over Stefanos Tsitsipas, Stan Wawrinka and Australian Open favourite Djokovic, he is poised to reach household status by the end of the tournament.
If his performance does not do it, his fiery attitude probably will – he has angered Wawrinka and Casper Ruud, who advised him to “stop acting like a baby” and to “grow up”.
With a potential third-round clash with Nick Kyrgios awaiting, Rune has no plans of holding back.
“I’ll take the fight for sure. I’m not afraid,” he said. “I’m just going to go out there and play my tennis.
“It’s good for the sport to have a guy like Nick into the crowd like he does, and I like it, too. I think it’s fun.
“It’s better to play with a full stadium that is loud.
“All my life I’ve been dreaming to be at this moment, where I’m now. My job is not finished as I see it.”
It is also worth noting that win over Djokovic – the Paris Masters final – was on hardcourt. Rune still looks back on that performance to draw confidence.
“To play these kinds of matches against Novak, who is so experienced, was super tough, but I took the talent and gave all I had,” he said.
“Winning that game was a huge confidence boost – winning against him and in a final is even bigger.”
Rune kickstarts his Australian campaign on Tuesday, when the mercury is tipped to reach 37C.
“I'm ready for it,” he said. “It’s going to be brutal, but I’m more and more experienced with it now, so I’m going to kind of look forward to it.”