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Denmark's Holger Rune has expressed optimism heading into 2024 after achieving great success in the 2023 season.
Rune will kick-start the New Year with a battle against Australia's Max Purcell at Brisbane International 2024 as the top seed on Monday, January 1. This will be his first-ever outing against Purcell.
The Dane has vowed to grind hard in the 12 months ahead of him. Having achieved a career-high ranking of World No. 4 in August 2023, Rune took to Instagram to voice his wish of going one step further in 2024.
"I feel 2024 will be the year where I fully trust my skills, feel the freedom again and go 100 percent for the next level. I know what I want and I know what I am capable of when I want something bad enough. This year I reached a career high on rank 4 in the world. Let’s push the limits even further now. Happy New Year everyone!" he wrote.
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Rune extended gratitude toward his fans for their constant support.
"This end year post is dedicated to my amazing supporters all over the world and to passion. I love to feel the mutual energy when I step on court and to share my passion with you. Passion is pure, it’s colourful and lively and it’s an expression without filter. Let’s always keep this fire alive," Holger Rune wrote.
The World No. 8 further wrote words of appreciation for his team members and sponsors.
"Leaving 2023 I want to thank everyone helping me this year. Above all my family, my coaches, trainers, physical, physio, analyst, and sponsors. Everyone putting in the love and energy to help me achieving my dreams. Thank you, we are getting closer every year," Rune added.
A brief account of Holger Rune's performances in 2023
Holger Rune's 2023 season started with a surprise loss to Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka in the Adelaide International opener on January 2. A few days later, he flew to Melbourne for the Australian Open, where he went as far as the fourth round.
In April, the Dane came close to his first title of the year as he reached the Monte-Carlo Masters final but was stopped by Andrey Rublev. However, Rune managed to reign supreme at the Bavarian International Tennis Championships a few days later.
Rune continued with his prime form as he earned another finalist trophy at the Italian Open after losing to Daniil Medvedev in the summit clash. He bowed out of the French Open in the quarterfinals after facing defeat at the hands of Casper Ruud. A similar result followed Rune at Wimbledon in July when he lost to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz in the last-eight stage.
The 20-year-old went through a trough during the North American hardcourt and Asian swing season, crashing out of the US Open in the first round. Subsequently, Rune roped in former World No. 1 Boris Becker as his full-time coach in October.
Holger Rune's season graph improved after the arrival of Becker as he made it to the semifinals and quarterfinals of the Swiss Indoors and Paris Masters, respectively. He capped off his season with a group-stage finish at the ATP Finals.
