Holger Rune recalls lessons from Serena Williams after their joint practice session

Tennis star Holger Rune shares insights gained from Serena Williams during practice session

Holger Rune and Serena Williams (Credits: Twitter)

In an interview with Gio Journal, Holger Rune, who is currently ranked eighth in the world, expressed his admiration for Serena Williams‘ “clean strokes” during their practice session, which he immediately noticed and appreciated. When asked to name the most challenging female tennis player to compete against, Rune chose Williams as a great champion.

Rune indicated that he did not want to respond to the question as a sign of his admiration for female tennis players. “The competition would be unfair so I cannot answer this question. I have practiced with Serena. Love her clean strokes,“ Rune told.

Since retiring from professional tennis at the US Open, seven months have passed. In February, Williams confessed that there were times when she felt tempted to come out of retirement and return to the sport.

Rune has achieved three singles titles on the ATP Tour, one of which was a Masters 1000 title at the 2022 Paris Masters. At the 2022 French Open, he had his best Grand Slam performance by making it to the quarterfinals in his debut appearance in the tournament’s main draw.

"Love her clean strokes": Rune on what he learned practicing with Serena Williams #Tennis https://t.co/bE7PjQhHhX
— TennisUpToDate (@TennisUpToDate2) April 10, 2023

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Serena Williams reveals reason for retirement despite being in good health

In a recent revelation, Serena Williams explained why she chose to retire despite being in excellent physical condition. Widely regarded as one of the greatest female athletes of all time, Williams amassed an impressive career record of 23 Grand Slam singles titles, 14 doubles titles, and two mixed doubles titles. Additionally, she won an Olympic gold medal in 2012.

After losing in the third round to Ajla Tomljanovic at the 2022 US Open, Williams announced her retirement from the sport. In an exclusive interview with E!, the celebrated American tennis player stated that, although she could still perform at a high level, she decided to retire while she was still in good health to “enjoy a quality life.”

Williams admitted that she played tennis recently and felt that she was still capable of playing professionally without any excuse. However, she acknowledged that retirement was the right decision for her, despite her skill level. Williams emphasized that she wanted to leave the sport while she was healthy so that she could have a good quality of life outside of tennis.