Holger Rune will face a very good Fabio Fognini on Sunday at the Italian Open and he's excited about the match because it's going to be a great atmosphere.
Fognini has been rolling back the year this week in Rome winning two matches comfortably and blasting 40+ winners in both of them. It has been the best level he showed by far this year and it's not a coincidence that it's happening in Rome.
Fognini generally shows up when the crowd is behind him and the Italian crowd is known as very passionate and loud. He'll be having all of that support against Rune as well and things could get interesting. The Dane does clash with crowds on occasion and he somewhat hinted at that after the win over Fils expecting a 'wild' atmosphere. He just plays with a lot of passion which some have called an asset.
It's going to be wild, for sure. But this is great because this is what tennis is about. You already hear the football match [atmosphere] now and this is great, it's fun. It brings tennis to another level and I'm super excited for it.
Rune made a superb start to the event himself taking down qualifier and fellow rising star Arthur Fils from France. It was a straightforward win for Rune but also one that was tough to produce as he had to fight for every point. After the match, Rune admitted that it was much tougher than the score would indicate. He also wished him good luck in the future describing him as a very nice guy.
He made it tough. He's young, younger than me. It feels kind of crazy because I think this is the second time in my life I'm playing someone that's younger. For sure he's in the right direction and I wish him all the best. He's a nice guy.
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