'When You're Young, People Are Very Quick To Pick On You': Admits Rune
ATP
Holger Rune is one of the more exciting players on the ATP Tour, yet, he's gotten quite a bit of negative publicity so far in his career.
Holger Rune is one of the youngest players on Tour but even so, the Dane is one of the best. Firmly in the Top 10 and on the hunt for trophies, Rune is quickly seeing himself become one of the most polarizing figures of the tennis sport. Much of it has to do with things that are not really related to his tennis; fair or not.
Carlos Alcaraz is uniquely beloved on the Tour and while Rune came up with him through the ranks, the Dane hasn't gotten the same reception. He's gotten quite a bit of negative publicity, something that he's not too happy about.
Some of that was warranted as Rune had some questionable moments on the court while other parts of it are probably a bit too harsh. He kind of feels like people are picking on him for things that are pretty common on the tennis tour.
When you are young, people are very quick to pick on you, to be honest, especially when you’re doing well. Honestly if you look at every match, everybody is getting frustrated and it’s a part of the game.
Rune is tremendously passionate on a tennis court. You can see it in the way he approaches tennis and just plays it. He gets angry, he gets frustrated but he doesn't feel that's unique to him. Most players do and for him, it's a way of hyping himself up. Some perceive him as very cocky on a tennis court - a claim he dismissed.
Frustration can be a good frustration or a bad frustration. For me it’s good frustration most of the time, which helps me for the next point. I don’t keep it so I lose the next two or three points, because then it’s not worth it.
But if it can bring your fire in the belly and bring you a stronger shot and a better point, I think it’s definitely worth it.
Public perception can be swayed and his portrayal as somewhat of a bad boy in tennis is certainly adding to the whole thing. Nick Kyrgios spoke about the detriment the media's treatment had on him earlier in his career and we're seeing some similar patterns with Rune; justified or not.
