‘Stick to Your Own Tennis’ – With $2,500,000,000 Burden on His Shoulders, 21YO Roger Federer Fanboy Details How He Desires to Replicate Idol’s near Impossible Feat in Tennis

Published 08/27/2023, 10:56 AM EDT

88: That’s how many singles Grand Slam titles Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer have won. Serena, women’s tennis’ Open Era GOAT, won 23 titles during her illustrious career. Novak has won 23 so far and is still going strong. Rafa has 22 under his belt. Last but not least, Roger won 20 before calling it quits last year. $2.5 billion: That’s how much money the four of them minted from their combined Grand Slam successes. Now, a 20-year-old Dane finds himself burdened as he desperately tries to emulate his yesteryear hero.

He is yet to win a Grand Slam, but he would certainly want to go the distance at the US Open. That Dane is none other than the current World No. 4, Holger Rune. And his tennis hero? Who else but the Swiss Maestro himself, Roger Federer.

For Holger Rune, emulating Roger Federer meant the world

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Holger Rune’s love and passion for tennis began when he was only 7 years old. At the time, the Dane’s sole love in tennis happened to be Rafael Nadal. And why not? Rafa was nothing short of a warrior in his prime. He still is, even though his battles these days seem to be more against his own body than against panic-stricken opponents on tennis courts.

Holger caught much of Rafa on his television screen when he was young, and his opinion was pretty much the same, which he recently confessed to Forbes in a candid interview. However, after a point, a certain Swiss tennis specialist caught Holger’s eye. Who else could it have been but Roger?

Prime Roger Federer was the tennis purist’s dream, and it got to a point where Holger just couldn’t take his eyes off the Swiss stalwart. What’s more? Rune started emulating Federer in every possible way he could.

“If I was going to idolize them, I was trying to idolize them all the way,” said Holger in his interview. The Dane added, “So I wore the same clothes; I played with the same racket.”

It didn’t take long for Holger’s love for Roger to transform into a manic obsession. Soon, the young Dane found himself putting on a bandana whenever he was about to hit. Holger even started imitating some of Roger’s signature shots. “I even tried the one-handed backhand,” says Holger. However, his coach intervened, and it proved to be nothing less than a divine intervention: “Luckily, my coach told me to stick to your own tennis.”

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What must Holger Rune do to follow in Roger Federer’s footsteps with the US Open looming large?

Roger Federer won 5 US Open titles. Holger Rune is yet to get one, and 2023 will only be the Dane’s third appearance at the historic Grand Slam. So far, the Dane has had two forgettable Flushing Meadows experiences. In 2021, he registered his first ever appearance at the US Open. Unfortunately, he crashed out in the first round, as he found himself up against eventual finalist Novak Djokovic.

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2022 marked his second Flushing Meadows appearance, and he managed to scrape his way into the third round. However, once again, the experience of Briton Cameron Norrie proved too difficult for the Dane to deal with.

2023, though, is turning out to be a completely different ballgame as far as Holger Rune is concerned. Right now, the Dane is ranked World No. 4, and in his first match at the US Open, he is set to face Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena. As far as predictions go, it’s safe to say that all things point to Holger bagging $81,500, the compensation for every first-round winner.

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However, the bigger question is, can he go all the way and claim the $3,000,000 champion’s bounty and take his Roger Federer fandom to the next level? What do you think? Let us know in the comments section.

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Written by:

Sudipto is a Tennis writer at EssentiallySports. He completed his graduation in Journalism and Mass Communication in 2012. His passion for writing became a full-time profession in 2019 after working as a musician and travelling educator.

Edited by:

Tony Thomas

‘Stick to Your Own Tennis’ – With $2,500,000,000 Burden on His Shoulders, 21YO Roger Federer Fanboy Details How He Desires to Replicate Idol’s near Impossible Feat in Tennis

For Holger Rune, emulating Roger Federer meant the world

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What must Holger Rune do to follow in Roger Federer’s footsteps with the US Open looming large?