'Humble' Holger Rune proud of brave display against Novak Djokovic in Italian Open upset

Holger Rune explained how he managed to beat Novak Djokovic for the second time in his career during the court interview after the quarter-final clash at the Rome Masters. Rune defeated Djokovic in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, after two hours and 19 minutes to progress through to the semi-finals.

It was not the first time the Dane defeated Djokovic, as he had done so at the 2022 Paris Masters, winning the final 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Nevertheless, this win was almost as big as the one before, and Holger Rune was as happy as one can be after defeating his childhood idol and one of the all-time greats.

"It's a really big win for me," Holger Rune said during the on-court interview after the match. "Obviously, I did it in Paris last year, but every match is a huge challenge for me when I play against Novak. He's one of the greatest that ever played the game so I know I have to be at my best. I said it yesterday and I won today so I'm super proud of myself and, you know, I enjoyed every moment out there."

Not many players in the history of tennis can brag that they've defeated Novak Djokovic twice in their careers and have a positive head-to-head record. Despite that, the 20-year-old from Denmark feels it will not get to his head at all.

"No, no, I stay humble. I have a lot to achieve before I can... I think you should always be humble and I think I am, I hope that people see me this way," the World No. 7 said.

"I'm a huge fighter on the court and I leave everything (on the court) when I play my matches. I'm super proud that I was able to get the victory today. I had to fight hard and play my best tennis. Huge credit to Novak - I'm a big fan of him and (he is) a huge inspiration and I wish him all the best," he added.

The match was interrupted because of rain when Holger Rune was 0-30 down while serving to stay in the second set at 4-5. The Serb came back swinging, winning the remaining two points of the second set, but Rune managed to reset himself during the break and win the decider authoritatively.

During the same interview, he was asked whether winning the third set 6-2 was a little bit less complicated than he thought it would be.

"Not at all, actually! I know when Novak goes into this mode in the end, nothing can come at him and he plays really aggressively at the end," Rune continued. "When you want to close the match it's really difficult, he puts a lot of pressure on you. But yeah, I managed to hit some good shots and stay brave, that was the most important.

"I think I was a bit less brave in the second set, but I managed to come back on the court from the rain delay and be brave, even though I lost the set. I just told myself it's alright, I just have to keep going."

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Holger Rune to face Casper Ruud or Francisco Cerundolo in the semi-finals of the Italian Open

Holger Rune is in the Italian Open semifinals, set to face Francisco Cerundolo or Casper Ruud.

Holger Rune is aiming to reach his third Masters final, after winning in Paris 2022 against Novak Djokovic and losing to Andrey Rublev in Monte Carlo 2023.

He will face either the Norwegian Casper Ruud, who he lost to in all four of their head-to-head matches, all of them played on clay in 2021 and 2022, or Francisco Cerundolo, who he is yet to face on the ATP Tour. However, Rune lost to the Argentine at the Manerbio Challenger in 2019, 7-6, 6-0.

No matter the result in the semi-finals, Rune will earn at least 270 points from the Italian Open, as he lost to Hugo Dellien in the first round in 2022. If he reaches the final he will overtake Rublev as the World No. 6, and has a chance to jump to fourth sport if both Stefanos Tsitsipas and Ruud lose their quarter-finals match, and he wins the title.