Despite the defeat in the final in Montecarlo, the Dane promises great things.
Holger Rune he smiles towards his corner and points to his temple with his index finger. Jannik Sinner he has just sent the ball into the net trying to attack, and a not too convinced roar rises from the audience watching under the bad weather; they hoped for another outcome. The handshake between the two is cold and particularly quick. No hugs and no pats on the back. Rune sketches a nod trying to hide the smile on his face for a moment, without success, as he re-emerges immediately after. Sinner almost doesn’t look at him. He is there only because he has to, for a code of ethics that is part of every tennis player, except in rare cases.
Rune is right to point to her temple. He won the match with his headpsychologically prevailing over the opponent. And after less than twenty hours, Rune himself loses the final against Rublev. This time the head is exactly what was missing, because the field spoke clearly. The two matches not even a day apart enclose all the essence of Holger Runewho does, troubles and undoes by himself, flaunting his 19 years to the whole world, with the instability that they bring with them.
At that age, however, he has already won a Masters 1000, beating in Paris Novak Djokovic on indoor concrete; child’s play, right? Before facing him in the final, the Serbian had described him Like this: “It reminds me of myself: a solid backhand, great defense, and competition at every point. I think it’s a great element for our sport“. Paris-Bercy was the icing on the cake of an unforgettable seasonin which the Dane moved from 86th position on March 7 to the top 10 in the world rankings.
Rune has expanded its technical baggage in a very short space of time. The tennis proposed in Montecarlo is bold and full of solutions. From the drop shot to the serve & volley, also throwing in some forehand that you can barely see. Vary the position in response and the trajectory of the ball, alternating more worked parables with other more grim ones. Last year in Halle against Carreno Busta, Rune wins a point that sums it up perfectly his layered and instinctive play. The Dane shoots three straights one in line to the other and immediately afterwards closes with a soft demi-volée that ends just after the net. “The power and the touch” says the commentator.
He has improved physically and athletically, as well as having an innate arrogance that drives his opponents crazy. Against Sinner, while down 5-1 40-15 with two set points to cancel, he asked the referee to suspend the match due to bad weather. Tennis is first and foremost a psychological game.
And when he wants he knows how to be mature. We said just now that in the semifinal he won with his head. The first set ended 6-1, with only three winners and five free errors, completely at the mercy of Sinner. Then he slowed down. After you lose a set or make a big mistake they always tell you to reset your brain,”forget it” they tell you. And you punctually don’t do it, on the contrary, you think about it even more. Rune instead reprogrammed himself and his gametaking a step back and letting Sinner take the risks.
The result? 5-2 Runes. But then there is another blackout and in an instant it is 5-5. This is another key moment, of the game and of the Rune-player. Rune loses his temper and takes it out on the public, clearly in favor of Sinner. The Dane screams and puts his finger to his lips, pretending to silence tens of thousands of people. Four consecutive points follow, including an ace at 200 km/h, with related provocations after each exchange. He just needed more motivation, one more opponent than he already had on the other side of the net. Ten thousand spectators are enough. Break immediately after e beef with the audience closed in beauty with the hand raised to the ear. His personality is not lacking.
“On the pitch, everything fades into the background: the crowd, the referee, the coaches. The only goal is to attack the opponentwrote Michele Cecere in a article about Carlos Alcaraz after victory at Indian Wells. Rune, who is the same age as Alcaraz, is the exact opposite. He is in constant conversation with his corner and the behavior of the public highly affects his mood, which is then reflected in the game. It may happen that this loads him, as with Sinner, or that the pressure becomes too much even for him and leads him to explode; Rublev thanks. Rune can act from absolute phenomenon or from brat capricious. And the opponent can only hope to have the second version ahead of him.
The comparison with Alcaraz serves to introduce a central argument, that of rivalries to come. Here too we can help ourselves with a phrase from Novak Djokovic, who when asked who will be next Big Three he answers: “I’m sure about Alcaraz, Sinner and Rune“.
If the former is and will remain the man to beat for the rest of his days, the other two will be in constant battle for the title number one contender. Our favorite rivalry is undoubtedly the one between Alcaraz and Sinner; clean, healthy, esteemed, and half Italian. Blue is cold and rational, Apollonian as Nietzsche would say, while Spanish is the perfect combination of brute force and schematic logic: a Superman.
However, a third element is missing to achieve balance. An irrational and chaotic, Dionysian component. In its imperfection, Holger Rune is the perfect intruder. A splinter gone mad in a rivalry as compelling as it is linear. One more variable with the aim of interrupting the usual Sinner-Alcaraz, Alcaraz-Sinner that we will see in the final stages of the tournaments between now and the next fifteen years. Rune is the dirty stain that we Italians didn’t need, but that tennis deserved. And the similarity with Djokovic is more and more intense. He too started as a third wheel in the Nadal-Federer rivalry. He too plays the part of badalbeit with different traits.
In a video on the ATP’s YouTube channel, Rune talked about the anger management and of his own temperament: “I had a good temper even as a child, I would throw rackets everywhere if I lost to my sister. I still have it, but I try to control it. When I’m angry I use that anger to put more power into the punches. It helps me a lot to improve“.
The impression is that Rune will remain this: hideously obnoxious and extremely full of himself, with anger as the only source that fuels his tennis. A typically Scandinavian chubby face encloses a huge ego, which occasionally comes out of the margins and ends up self-flagellation. And then that smile. A bloody braggart smile behind which all his is hidden presumed superiority.
At the end of the game Sinner heads towards the center of the field with his gaze lost in space, of those who know they have missed an opportunity. For a moment he seems to forget the identity of his opponent. Unfortunately when he gets to the net he remembers it. It burns him even more. The tennis player a foot away from him is two years younger and has already won a 1000m title, with the concrete possibility of conquering another one the next day.
It burns him because he has just seen yet another obstacle in front of him for his ascent. Sinner doesn’t seem to have any sympathy for Holger Rune. He doesn’t hide it. If Alcaraz stimulates him to improve, to become a more complete tennis player, Rune annoys him. Now there are three of them. She knows that hand will hold her again, but she never wants to feel this way again. Even Rune knows there are three of them. She always knew. For Rune, seeing an annoyed rival is the most fulfilling feeling. He wants to feel like this at other times, because it would mean becoming number one in the world. There are no alternatives for him: “Being number two is shit“.