"I'm going to have to thank my parents" - Holger Rune jokes about inheriting his intimidating legs following Paris Masters 2R win

Holger Rune recently joked that he has inherited his muscular legs from his parents, father Anders Nodskov and mother Aneke Rune. However, the Dane went on to briefly shed light on his leg workouts. He shared his thoughts after his second-round win over Alexander Bublik at the 2024 Rolex Paris Masters.

The Rolex Paris Masters, a prestigious ATP Masters 1000 event, holds a special place in Holger Rune's heart. Two years ago, he defeated the legendary Novak Djokovic in the tournament's final to mark his only Masters 1000 title triumph so far and the biggest achievement in his young tennis career.

The former World No. 4 came into this year's edition of the event on the back of a semifinal run in the Swiss Indoors Basel, where he lost to eventual champion Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. In Paris, Rune started his campaign with a win over Matteo Arnaldi, which set him up for a clash against the crafty and skillful Alexander Bublik in the second round.

The Dane cruised to a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 win over the Kazakh, converting three out of seven break points. Bublik himself was rather off-color throughout the contest, producing ten double faults.

After the match, Holger Rune sat down with Tennis Channel's Prakash Amritraj for a brief chat. At one point during their conversation, Amritraj teased Rune about the Dane's on-court habit of pulling up his shorts and displaying his muscular quadriceps. In response, the World No. 13 joked that his quadriceps are a "gift" that he received from his parents.

"For sure, yeah, it is a gift. I'm going to have to thank my parents, but no, I mean, we're definitely working, like, everyday, not anything crazy, but everyday we're working, stability for the knee and stuff and that goes around the quad," Holger Rune said.

The Dane proceeded to state that during the off-season, he does "heavy" leg workouts, and recalled the soreness he experienced last year after training in Dubai.

"During off-season we go quite heavy. I remember last off-season I did the first part in Dubai actually and we're doing some leg days and I've never had so sore legs in my life," Rune added.

The former World No. 4's next challenge in Paris would be to get the better of home hope Arthur Cazaux, who has already caused a shock upset over him this year.

Arthur Cazaux stunned Holger Rune at Australian Open 2024

Arthur Cazaux (Source: Getty)

Holger Rune and Arthur Cazaux faced each other for the first time in the second round of the 2024 Australian Open. Rune was the clear favorite on paper, but Cazaux registered one of the early shocks of the year's first Grand Slam, winning the contest 7-6(4), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Rune was ridiculed by fans, who even criticized the Dane's coach at the time, the legendary Boris Becker. Rune and Becker later parted ways, primarily because of the latter's inability to travel with Rune full-time.

Cazaux, the World No. 85 right now, is likely to be confident going into the 2024 Rolex Paris Masters third-round clash against No. 13 seed Rune. The 22-year-old Frenchman has already caused one of the shocks of the ATP Masters 1000 event by ousting World No. 19 Ben Shelton in the second round.