'I understood that Novak Djokovic’s not strong...', says young ATP player

Holger Rune, the 2003 Danish class winner of Roland Garros junior and n. 1 of the youth world, gave a very interesting interview to JuniorTennis Italia. The boy talked about how Novak Djokovic is an example, the probable slam finals with Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti and his next goals. Danish teenager Holger Rune is breaking new ground this year. Chiefly, the 17-year-old recently practiced with the World No. 1, Novak Djokovic, in Monte-Carlo. Naturally, the youngster was eager to share his experience with the world.

Rune on training with Novak Djokovic

“When I practiced with Novak Djokovic, I understood that he’s not strong in tennis only,” Holger Rune said. “He is the most complete player I have ever meet both mentally and physically; I understood why many players have a hard time beating him.” Rune, who dreams of becoming a World No. 1 himself, noted down the learnings from their session. Additionally, he looks forward to applying them right away. “I left the court in Monte-Carlo with so much inspiration, and I wrote down a lot of things I want to improve in the next weeks. He showed me what it takes to become and be number one; it’s not just passion and good tennis, it’s so much more.” The N. 317 of the ranking also talked about his goals for the end of the season and the next, perhaps flying a little too high. "Now I am number 317 ATP, my goal is to enter the top 100 by the end of the season and then reach the top 20-30 in the world by the end of 2022: once I have reached this second step, I will do everything to get to the number one. "I have no problem playing ATP qualifiers. I hope that in some events they give me a wild card: in Denmark there are no ATP or Challenger tournaments, the situation is very difficult because in this period in the various European tournaments they tend to invite local players to allow them to earn some money and points for the ranking. I understand their needs, but at the same time I hope someone can consider me. The ATP tournaments that I will play this year will always have a special place in my heart, even when I am number one. I would like to play a slam tournament this year already. As mentioned, unfortunately I am not granted the same opportunities as French, Italian or Spanish players since there are no high level tournaments in Denmark: this makes my path more difficult”.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/39zH5H5