Holger Rune Believes It’s ‘Not Impossible’ for Novak Djokovic to Win Historic 25th Grand Slam Title
Novak Djokovic holds a 4-2 head-to-head lead over Holger Rune, who is currently recovering from an injury.
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Holger Rune, Novak Djokovic (Image via X/AllAboutHQ)
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Had it been another player in the twilight of his career, he wouldn’t have been able to win a Grand Slam title, believes Holger Rune. He is of the opinion, like many others, that in the Majors, it’s tough to write off Novak Djokovic, even though he will turn 39 this May.
It was Djokovic whom Rune defeated in the 2022 Paris Masters final to win his career’s first and only Masters 1000 title. The following season, Djokovic played eight finals, winning seven titles, including the Australian Open, French Open, and the US Open. Carlos Alcaraz ruined his Calendar Slam goal with a five-set win in the Wimbledon final.
But in 2024, Djokovic started to experience a dip in his form and made just one Grand Slam final, also the last time he reached a Major title clash. It was Alcaraz again who denied him his 25th Major.
But the 38-year-old took his revenge in the Paris Olympics final the same year, taking home his career’s first Olympic gold medal after battling past the six-time Grand Slam champion in straight sets. Last year, Djokovic was the oldest player in all four Grand Slam semifinals.
An injury ruined his campaign at the Australian Open, and later he suffered straight-set defeats at the hands of Jannik Sinner (French Open and Wimbledon) and Alcaraz (US Open). Rune, who recently sat for an interview with Marca, was asked if he thinks Djokovic is in a position to add another Major to his trophy cabinet.
What Novak is doing is impressive. In every tournament, he reaches at least the semifinals, and people are talking about when he’ll stop. You never know with Novak. What he’s doing is already impossible, so if you ask me if it’s impossible for him to win more Grand Slams, if you ask me about any other player his age, I’d say no, impossible, but if you ask me about Novak, I’ll tell you that nothing is impossible.
The Australian Open is around the corner, and Djokovic skipped the ATP 250 Adelaide International, citing that he is not ready physically. In the first Major of the season, the 24-time Grand Slam champion will also be chasing his 11th tournament title.
Holger Rune shares how many hours he spends in recovery
Holger Rune is not focusing on the Australian Open, as his goal at present is to recover completely from his Achilles tendon injury. The Dane tore his Achilles tendon while clashing with Ugo Humbert in last year’s Stockholm Open semifinal. During the aforementioned interview with Marca, Rune was asked to share how his typical day in life is these days and how many hours he spends in recovery.
I start with special mobility exercises for an hour; eye-reaction/coordination training for about thirty minutes, and another hour of strength training. We stop for lunch, then I do conditioning training for an hour and a half, and then I go home to rest. I do walking exercises for thirty minutes, laser therapy, other treatments, Compex, etc., for an hour or an hour and a half, depending. So it’s about six hours a day. I play tennis once a week. When I can walk normally, I’ll increase the sessions to two or three times a week.
Last year, he took home just one title. After losing the Indian Wells Masters to Jack Draper, Rune defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the Barcelona Open final.
In Grand Slam events, Rune failed to reach the quarterfinals, losing in the fourth rounds of the Australian Open and the French Open, while at Wimbledon and the US Open, he suffered exits in the first and second rounds, respectively. Rune, in fact, has never reached a Grand Slam semifinal, losing thrice in the quarterfinal stage.
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