An ATP Masters 1000 champion, Grand Slam quarter-finalist and World No. 8 by the age of 19, Holger Rune has made a sudden impact on the ATP Tour.
But asked to assess how much of his potential had been fulfilled, the Dane suggested that there was plenty of upside left to come, reflecting his strong desire to succeed and delivering a clear message of intent to his rivals.
“I think [I have reached] maybe 55 or 60 per cent [of my potential],” said Rune. “I’m 19, so I feel like I have a lot to learn still. When I’m out there playing, I feel still like I can be a lot better, which is in a way nice but sometimes frustrating.
“I just have to look at it as a positive thing. I’m No. 8 in the world now, and I’ve reached I think maybe 55 or 60 per cent of my potential, so it’s a positive thing.”
Rune acknowledged that setbacks like his three-set defeat to Stan Wawrinka in the third round at Indian Wells will only help him on his mission to reach a higher level. He will put any new learnings from that loss to the test this week on debut at the Miami Open presented by Itau, where he takes on Marton Fucsovics or Pedro Cachin in his opening match.
“I didn’t play very well, but credit to Stan, he beat me,” said Rune, who is 10-7 for the 2023 season, of the Wawrinka defeat. “You have those kinds of matches sometimes, and you just have to learn a little bit from it and move on as quickly as possible.
“I’ve done that pretty well here [in Miami]. We’ve had a lot of good practice sessions, I feel ready, ready to go out there and have fun. It’s the last hard-court tournament before the clay season, so I’m just going to enjoy it as much as I can.”
Rune’s rapid progress in the past 12 months makes him something of an anomaly on Tour. He is a Top 10 player and won the 2022 Rolex Paris Masters, but has still only competed in the main draw of five of the nine ATP Masters 1000 events. That will become six out of nine this week, when he hopes to add some more positive memories to his mixed past experiences in Miami.
“I never played the junior tournaments [here], like the Orange Bowl, so I came here for the first time for a pre-season that Patrick [Mouratoglou] invited me to,” explained Rune. “The second time was last year here. I only got to play 20 minutes, unfortunately I was injured, in the first round of qualifying, but now I’m here as the seventh seed so it’s a bit of a better feeling this year.
“I’ve played almost all the biggest tournaments in the main draws now. This is a very special tournament, so it’s definitely one I would like to see myself win in future. It’s a great event, I really enjoy being in Miami and I cannot wait to start.”
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