Holger Rune's mother Aneke has expressed her admiration for the Dane's incredible comeback to complete a successful title defense at the BMW Open in Munich.
Rune took on Botic van de Zandschulp in a rematch of the 2022 BMW Open final. The Dane clinched the first set 6-4 before van de Zandschulp raised his level to win seven games in a row and secure the second set 6-1, forcing a decider.
The World No. 7 was trailing 2-5, 40-15 in the third as the Dutchman served for the title when he fought back to save four championship points and secure a 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(3) victory.
Holger Rune's mother Aneke shared a post detailing the Dane's heroics in the third set on her social media and expressed her admiration for his fighting spirit.
"Down 2-5 and wins the third set. What a fighter @holgerrune," she posted on her Instagram story.
With his victory, Rune became the first ATP player to successfully defend their title during the 2023 season. The 19-year-old also rose three places in the race to the ATP Finals. He currently holds the eighth spot with 1,480 points to his name.
Holger Rune's mother Aneke comes to his rescue after racquet drama during Munich final
During the opening set of the BMW Open final in Munich, Holger Rune sent one of his tennis racquets to be regripped, which failed to reappear even after 20 minutes.
After losing the second set in a comprehensive manner, Rune complained to the chair umpire, lamenting how long it was taking for his racquet to be regripped. He asked for the racquet to be brought back to him, even if it hadn't been regripped yet.
"It doesn't take 20 minutes to put an overgrip. Please call the supervisor and ask them to send it here back, no matter how it is. That's insane like, my record is 37 seconds," Rune said.
Fortunately, Rune's mother Aneke came to his rescue and was seen changing the grip on his racquet herself.
Competing at the Madrid Open next, Holger Rune will be the sixth seed at the ATP Masters 1000 event. Following a bye in the first round, Rune will take on the winner of the match between Alexander Bublik and Daniel Elahi Galan.
This will mark the World No. 7's first appearance at the event. He was forced to pull out of the qualifying draw for the Madrid Masters in 2022 due to scheduling conflicts with the BMW Open.