“King Rune? More ball boy”- Holger Rune mercilessly trolled as his name sits next to Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev at Saudi’s Six Kings Slam

The 6 Kings Slam will take place in Riyadh in October, 2024.

“King Rune? More ball boy”- Holger Rune mercilessly trolled as his name sits next to Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev at Saudi’s Six Kings Slam

Novak Djokovic. Holger Rune, and Rafael Nadal (Image via: Imago)

Holger Rune is being heavily trolled on the internet after the release of the poster for the ‘6 Kings Slam’, which is an exhibition tournament for the Riyadh season. It will take place in Saudi Arabia in October and is another attempt by the nation to expand its reach to tennis fans across the globe.

Notably, Saudi Arabia has been heavily investing in various sports for the last couple of years to eventually establish itself as one of the sports capitals of the world.

YouTube video

With that being said, it seems like every sport is undergoing a ‘Saudi takeover’ currently and the majority of fans are heavily against this. However, the fact of the matter is that the process is underway and the huge amounts of money that Saudi Arabia has to offer are hard to resist by the players. 

FS Video

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, and Holger Rune are the six players who will participate in the 6 Kings Slam and obviously, the level of competition will be next level. Rafael Nadal became the ambassador of the Saudi Arabian Tennis Federation just last month and said that he was looking forward to the event. 

Last year, there were two exhibition matches that took place during the 2023 Riyadh season. Carlos Alcaraz took on Novak Djokovic, while Aryna Sabalenka took on Ons Jabeur. Needless to say, the Saudi Arabian government has upped their game by a mile this time and the 6 Kings Slam will indeed be an interesting tournament for the fans.

Fans react to Holger Rune’s participation in the 6 Kings Slam 

Many fans are not dissatisfied with Holger Rune being a part of the Six Kings Slam and have claimed that he is a mismatch in the roster.

Holger Rune
Holger Rune (Source: Outsports)

The Danish international is the only player among the six who has not won a single Grand Slam and many fans have also commented that he is not at their level. This has led to him being trolled on the internet, especially on X (formerly Twitter). 

As much as I respect and like Rune’s game, what is he doing in that list?
A particular fan commented. 

Sharing a wide spectrum of reactions online, here’s what fans have to say:

https://twitter.com/Nadal_istheGOAT/status/1754599703591719283

A very common meme that is being used to summarize the situation is the one with the clown among a bunch of soldiers.

Many fans have pointed out that Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev were much more deserving of a spot in the tournament. Although they have not won a Grand Slam, they have a higher ranking than Holger Rune and are also in better form. 

In case you missed it: