Holger Rune's mother Aneke reacts to Dane emulating Rafael Nadal with Monte-Carlo Masters run

Holger Rune's mother Aneke recently reacted to the young Dane following in the footsteps of Rafael Nadal with his run to the semifinals of the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters.

Rune put on a dominant performance against Daniil Medvedev in the Monte-Carlo quarterfinals on Friday. He secured the only break of the first set while remaining clinical on serve, then broke early in the second. Although Medvedev broke Rune's serve for the first time in the match to restore parity, the World No. 9 claimed the decisive break soon after to clinch a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

With his win, Holger Rune became the youngest player to reach the Monte-Carlo Masters semifinals since Rafael Nadal in 2006.

Nadal had made history at the 2005 Monte-Carlo Masters, becoming the youngest player since Michael Chang to win an ATP Masters 1000 title. During his title defense a year later, the Spaniard defeated Guillermo Coria to advance to his second consecutive semifinal in Monte Carlo while aged just 19 years and 10 months.

Rune has now emulated Nadal by reaching the semifinals at 19 years and 11 months of age.

Holger Rune's mother Aneke took to Instagram to celebrate his achievement.

Aneke Rune's Instagram story

Holger Rune will take on Jannik Sinner in the Monte-Carlo Masters semifinal.

I had Rafael Nadal posters all over my room: Holger Rune

Rune at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters

Ahead of the commencement of the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters, Holger Rune opened up about his favorite players growing up in an interview with Gio Journal on April 6.

Rune mentioned that he had been a fan of Rafael Nadal from a young age and disclosed that he had put up posters of the then World No. 1 all over his room. However, his fandom expanded to include Roger Federer as well as various other players over time.

"First, I was fan of Rafa. He was number one back then. I had Rafa posters all over my room. Then I became Roger fan and later I was fan of many players," Rune said.

He went on to state that he admires Fernando Verdasco's forehand, Alexander Zverev's backhand, Novak Djokovic's return and Rafael Nadal's fighting spirit, among other things.

"To be more specific , I am fan of Verdasco's forehand, Zverev’s backhand , Novak’s return, Rogers movements, Rafa’s fighter attitude, etc," he added.

The 19-year-old was then asked to name the greatest tennis player of all time.

"Looking at number of wins for sure Novak, Rafa and Roger are the record holders and in that sense the greatest," he responded.