"One day like Rafael Nadal & next day being Roger Federer" - Holger Rune shares delightful childhood anecdote

Holger Rune told GQ Magazine that he's ready to step up at next week's Australian Open and emulate the achievements of his boyhood heroes, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. The 21-year-old Dane has flirted with Major success in his still fledgling career and wants to go further.

Rune has already won four ATP Tour singles titles, including the 2022 Rolex Paris Masters, when he took the scalps of five Top-10 players - Hubert Hurkacz, Andrey Rublev, World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, and No. 8 Félix Auger-Aliassime - before defeating the defending champion Novak Djokovic.

That Masters 1000 title, which made him the youngest champion in Paris since Boris Becker in 1986, announced Rune as a possible natural successor to the two legends he worshipped as a young boy battling with others for court space. He told GQ:

“There was only one court and lots of kids so we had to fight our way to play. But I definitely remember when I started to imitate Roger and Rafa – one day turning up with a bandana like Rafa and the next day being like Roger. That's a cool memory."

Currently ranked by the ATP at World No. 13, Rune has yet to kick on from his Masters success in the Majors, although for one so young he's performed creditably. He's twice reached the quarterfinal stage of the French Open (2022 and 2023), and the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2023, where he was comfortably beaten 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 by eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.

Rune noticed the upswing in attention in 2019 when he won the Junior French Open, and its escalation after his Masters success:

"It all started when I won the Junior French Open [in 2019]. Automatically fans became more focused on me. Then when I won the Masters in Paris [in 2022], it became more and more everywhere I go. I try to give them as much energy as possible because we're in the entertainment business so it's nice to put on the show."

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Holger Rune is keen to follow in fellow Dane Caroline Wozniacki's footsteps

Holger Rune, 2025 Australian Open Previews - Source: Getty

Holger Rune managed to reach World No. 4 in the ATP rankings in 2023, making him the highest-ranked male Danish player in the history of the ATP rankings. He recognizes that alongside fellow women's player Caroline Wozniacki, he's blazing a trail for Scandinavian sport.

Rune said in the same interview with GQ:

"I would love to be the first male Danish player to win a Grand Slam in singles. That would be amazing."

Rune's Australian Open exploits have been relatively modest - a fourth-round appearance in 2023 his best showing to date, but at 21 years of age he has plenty of time. Criticized at times as a teenager for a lack of maturity, he appears to have put those days behind him and is looking forward to the 2025 Major with relish. He said:

"Coming into a tournament like this one, I have pretty clear goals on what I want to achieve, which keeps my hunger very high. For me, tennis is the love of my life. It’s the greatest thing that could happen to me, and I can't wait to do more of it."

Doubtless as he progresses in Melbourne he'll think back to those early years when he looked up to Nadal and Federer for inspiration and tried to copy them on court. Rune recognizes the debt of gratitude tennis owes to its legends:

"Roger, Rafa, Novak and [Andy] Murray were huge for tennis; they got millions of people into tennis and wanting to play tennis, so we have a lot to live up to."