EXCLUSIVE: Holger Rune labels Novak Djokovic as the toughest opponent to prepare for, talks of challenging him for Wimbledon
Holger Rune talks about Novak Djokovic and his experience on the grass courts ahead of the Wimbledon Championships in an exclusive interview with the FirstSportz team.
Follow Us
Holger Rune (right) and Novak Djokovic at the Paris Masters last year (Image Via Skysports)
Holger Rune has been performing way above expectations for the last few months and FirstSportz got the opportunity to talk to him in an exclusive interview. Rune has been regarded as one of the next-gen Big 3’s alongside Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner and he again put his name onto the headlines after his impressive quarter-final win against Lorenzo Musetti at the Queen’s Club Championships with his run coming to an end in the semis against Alex de Minaur.
This marked Rune’s first-ever semi-final appearance in any of the grass-court tournaments and he is full of confidence ahead of the most awaited Wimbledon Championships. The FirstSportz team asked him a couple of questions, including who he considers his toughest opponent and whether he prepares differently for any player.
Rune gave the answer on the toughest competitor as Novak Djokovic, saying, “Novak for sure. If you do one thing wrong against Novak you lose. You need to be very well prepared.” When asked about what he thinks about facing Novak on grass, he said, “I didn’t win a grass match before this year, now in Queen’s. So to put me as a challenge to Novak is maybe more of a dream. Still, we always hope dreams can come true. And work for it. Let’s see.”
Can Holger Rune be the next big thing in the world of tennis?
With Roger Federer retired and Rafael Nadal almost at the end of his career, it is all about Djokovic now but as people say, to be at the best you need to be challenged by the best. Djokovic won the Roland Garros last month, which handed him his 23rd Grand Slam, putting a probable end to all the records, but his fans fear how long will the Serb continue to hunt and keep his hunger alive.
With players like Alcaraz, Rune, and Sinner coming up, the world has already dreamed of the next Big 3. However, only time only tell if these fantasies will come to reality or will there be only one generation of the ultimate Big 3. The Rafa-Novak-Federer era has given the tennis world a lot and it will take something really out of the books for these three players to even match their achievements.
In case you missed it:
- Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian jokes about investing in another ‘billion-dollar’ business after recent outing with family
- Rafael Nadal calls for calm after shock defeat to Cameron Norrie at United Cup
Stay Updated!
Nikhil Sonmali
(1112 Articles Published)