2021 ATP season was a memorable one for Denmark’s rising tennis prodigy, Holger Rune. The 18-year-old player marked his debut on the ATP Tour on a clay-court event in Argentina as his journey continued till the Next Gen ATP Finals.

During the process, Rune faced the biggest opponent one could ever imagine, Novak Djokovic in the US Open first-round. While the prospect of facing the World No.1 on a grand slam stage at the age of just 18 is a huge one, the Dane held his nerve and managed to take a set off Djokovic.

Holger Rune talks about tennis in Denmark and Caroline Wozniacki

With an expected improvement in his rankings next year, Rune was all pumped up to get himself ready for the upcoming tennis summer in Australia. During his pre-season prep, Holger talked about the tennis culture in his country and the impact of Caroline Wozniacki in an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports.

“Denmark is not a big tennis country or anything, we had (Caroline) Wozniacki but then otherwise we have no tradition or nothing in Denmark with tennis.” 

Rune also revealed his love for the sport right from a very young age.

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“I started when I was six years old, and my sister she started also playing tennis. So I came to try it. And I thought it was a lovely sport, I always enjoyed playing and still do, thankfully. So it’s for me, it’s just the best sport.” 

Rune enjoyed a successful stint on the Challenger Tour this year

Due to the lack of prominence of tennis in Denmark, Holger got the chance to travel to a lot of countries right from his childhood in order to play tournaments and gain experience.

“From a young age, I traveled a lot, traveled to play a lot of tournaments in Italy, France, to compete against the best guys, even in my age, or an age over so. So that’s probably very helpful for me, because I earned a lot of experience already back then.” 

As a junior player, Holger Rune won the 2019 French Open title after defeating the American youngster Toby Alex Kodat. On the Challenger tour, Holger has been a revelation this year, having added four titles to his name.

Looking at the quick progression of Holger Rune over the past couple of seasons, he is all set to uphold the legacy of Caroline Wozniacki.

Also read: “There Will Be a Void”: Alex Corretja Opens Up on Post Rafael Nadal Era in Spain