Holger Rune Shows New-Found Maturity In Response To Sinner's Long Medical Timeout
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Holger Rune showed his maturity after being pressed about Jannik Sinner's long medical timeout in their match at the 2025 Australian Open.
In the past, Rune was often criticized for his immaturity. Most famously, Stan Wawrinka told him to "stop acting like a baby" after their match at the 2022 Paris Masters.
Generally, the young Dane was known as a player who wasn't afraid to speak his mind, especially in the heat of the moment. He got into a few clashes with umpires over the years, and when it came to speaking during press conferences, Rune used to be quite raw in displaying his emotions as well.
In recent months, however, the 21-year-old seemingly matured both on and off the court, and the results followed. At the 2025 Australian Open, he reached the fourth round and posed probably the biggest challenge to Jannik Sinner so far.
He took the Italian player to four sets, and Sinner was struggling so much physically that at one point, the ATP World No. 1 player received treatment after having his blood pressure checked.
The two-time major champion left the court for a medical timeout. That happened when he was leading 3-2 in the third set of the match. In his last two service games before the medical timeout, Sinner faced break points and only miraculously avoided being broken.
Once he returned, he looked like a different player, and he dominated the remainder of the match. After the match, Rune was asked about his opponent's medical timeout, but he refused to blame his loss on the timing of Sinner's timeout.
"I think it's perfectly fine that you check. It was a very warm day today. It was very humid. I was also feeling it. It's fair that he got checked. I think it took a bit more than I expected. That was a bit brutal in the middle of the set, but again, it is what it is, I just could move on."
The 21-year-old Dane was then asked whether he was aware of why Sinner's medical timeout took so long. He was initially observed on the court before leaving the court. Rune explained what happened from his point of view.
"They checked him on the court, and the umpire said that he needed further checks to make sure he was alright, and then he came back firing."
Rune was then further pressed about Sinner's medical timeout. He admitted that sitting in the heat for so long impacted him physically, but instead of blaming someone else, he said that he would learn from this experience and later seek to hide when such situation occurs.
"It was really, really tough. I was almost dying, also. I could see him. He was also struggling. It was very warm today, and especially having this 10-12-minute break just sitting in the heat cooking out there was a bit tough, but it is what it is, as I said."
"I just have to move on and maybe be smarter next time to maybe wait off-court or whatever because it was a bit long."
