"Holger Rune dressed like Roger Federer & Rafael Nadal, didn't care what others were thinking" - Dane's mother Aneke on his childhood tennis devotion

Holger Rune's mother Aneke recently spoke to podcaster Craig Shapiro about the promising Dane's childhood. According to her, Rune was always obsessed with tennis to the extent that he wore tennis outfits to school.

Rune, 20, has made a rapid surge in the ATP rankings since turning pro in 2020. Having been just inside the men's top 100 towards the end of 2022, the promising Dane enjoyed a scintillating campaign at the Paris Masters that year, beating Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz en route to his first-career big title.

Since then, Holger Rune has established himself as a top player. The Dane has become famous for his intense on-court attitude. Against that background, Craig Shapiro invited his mother, Aneke, on his podcast to learn more about the World No. 7's formative years.

When asked whether he was this passionate even in his childhood years, Aneke replied in the affirmative. She disclosed that Holger Rune "didn't wanna do anything else" apart from playing tennis and that he used to wear Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer's Nike attires to school.

"He was super passionate from the beginning. He was not allowed to start in the club before he was 6... and he was like, so much into it..." Aneke Rune said on The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast (29:00). "But I think in his mind already he played tennis for one and a half years because when you [finally] let him out on the court, he was like an animal... he was like just wanting to hit the ball all the time. Didn't wanna do anything else."

"Rushing from school, even dressed when he went to school, he was dressed like Federer and Rafa. He didn't care what the other kids were thinking. If he came in sleeveless in school, he was just into it."

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"And then maybe there, I realized that Holger Rune is serious" - Aneke Rune narrates incident from the Dane's years as a junior

Holger Rune celebrates with his mother Aneke at the 2023 BMW Open

During the podcast, Aneke Rune also narrated a funny anecdote from when her son was eight. The Dane was playing junior tournaments at that point. One of Holger Rune's opponents, in Aneke's opinion, was far too strong for him, prompting her to ask the eight-year-old Rune to keep his expectations grounded.

Rune, however, blew a gasket after his mother's words to him, claiming that she didn't 'believe in his skills as a player'. Aneke then told Shapiro that it was the above moment when she knew that the Dane was serious about tennis.

"You could feel pretty early that Holger was very serious about it... both the way he acted around the tennis, but also when you spoke to him. He was like when he played the small tournaments in Denmark," Aneke said (30:51). "It was like, you had to play one of the big guys and you know, everybody knew he was going to lose."

"But... I said to Holger, it's like... I didn't tell him that 'You won't have the match tomorrow', but you know maybe I insinuated that he could not win the match and he got super upset... and [said], 'You don't trust me? You don't believe [in] me'. And he was maybe 8 years old and I was like, 'S**t, he's really serious about this. It's not a hobby, this.' And I was like, 'Oh yes, s**t, I believe [in] you! Of course, I believe [in] you!' And then maybe there, I realized that he is serious. It's not just, 'I want to be the best in the world'. It's not just 'blah, blah, blah'. It's like you could feel in his heart it's there."