“In the morning, it was not like the other days” – how Holger Rune convinced himself that he could beat Djokovic
Holger Rune and Patrick Mouratoglou tell us how the youngster was able to free himself mentally to beat his idol Novak Djokovic in the most important game of his young career.
Holger Rune at the Paris Masters in 2022 || Federico Pestellini / Panoramic
How to beat, on one of the most prestigious courts in the world, a player with whom you took selfies a handful of years ago? Holger Rune had to solve this equation on Sunday on the Centre Court of the Rolex Paris Masters, one of the most storied in our sport. He did it quite brilliantly, at the cost of specific mental work.
After his quarter-final victory over world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz, his new (co-) coach Patrick Mouratoglou had this sentence to sum up the mentality of champions, which he recognizes in Holger Rune: “A real champion, if he is aged 15, and plays Rafa on the center court, he thinks he can beat him. Even if he’s obviously wrong. But believing is a power, it changes everything.”
The anecdote recalled Holger Rune’s words after his first round of the US Open 2021 lost to Novak Djokovic, which had surprised many in their boldness: “I’m not saying if I was physically 100 percent I would beat him for sure, but I would definitely have a chance.”
A discussion that was good for Rune
But even after knocking out four Top-10 players and a former Grand Slam winner at the this year’s edition of the Rolex Paris Masters, Rune felt there was a risk of losing his final before he even started it, given his opponent’s poise.
“Always before matches I believe I can win, no matter who I’m going to play. Obviously I know it was going to take some extra today because it’s in the final. He played, if I’m not wrong, over a hundred ATP Finals in his career (129 in total, with 90 victories, to be exact). He’s much more experienced than I am.”
“To think you can beat Novak in a final being 19, knowing who Novak is and everything he has achieved, it’s difficult,” Mouratoglou confirmed. “We spoke in the morning, before the final. But I felt he was not like the other days. I felt pressure. So I said to him: come back we have to speak again.
“And there, I saw him come back to himself again. I saw on his face he was ready. He is really expressive, I saw he finally convinced himself he was able to beat Novak.”
He was really tough to play. It’s probably one of the toughest matches I’ve ever played in my life.
— Holger Rune
“It was tough at the start,” Mouratoglou said. “He was convinced but being on the court, seeing the crowd, Novak on the other side of the net, the guy you were admiring as a kid, that struck him a little bit. He was shy and not fully playing.
“The beginning of the second set was key. He was leading 0-40, the fact that he won that game gave him extra motivation to finally find his best tennis and play to win. But yes, to believe you can beat Novak in such an occasion, you have to be special.”
“I just tried to use my young power, will power, to do everything I can to put him under pressure,” an elated Rune recalled. “I played great in the important moments today, and that was what made the difference. He was really tough to play. It’s probably one of the toughest matches I’ve ever played in my life.”
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