“We planned our vacation to see it” – Holger Rune a big attraction for Danish fans at the Hopman Cup
Despite losing his first two singles matches at the Hopman Cup, Holger Rune has attracted a large number of supporters in Nice this week—many of which have travelled all the way from Denmark
The red flags and white crosses are out in Nice this week, but it isn’t to support Denmark’s football team. Instead, Danes are flocking to the Hopman Cup from July 19th to 23rd to support young star Holger Rune. One simply had to listen to the overwhelming encouragement the day one crowd gave to Clara Tauson, winner of the first singles match of the day over Alize Cornet, to get an idea of the Danish support in Nice.
“I didn’t know there were going to be so many Danes, said a surprised Cornet at the post-match press conference, after the French team won their match up in the mixed doubles. “I didn’t know they were going to be so noisy!”
Team France getting it done ✅@alizecornet & @richardgasquet1 🇫🇷 vs Clara Tauson & @holgerrune2003 🇩🇰 6-4 6-4 pic.twitter.com/l968eYLOgm
— Hopman Cup (@hopmancup) July 20, 2023
All dressed in red in the stands, it was the number of Danes present that impressed, more than their vocal support.
“There will be more than 1,000 Danes over the five days of competition,” says Philippe Weiss, operational director of the tournament. “It is by far the most present foreign population on this Hopman Cup. They are more numerous than the Spaniards, the Belgians.”
Almost all are there for Holger Rune, ranked No 6 in the world, and already the best player in the history of his country.
Fans travel from Italy, others directly from Denmark
A few minutes before Holger Rune and Richard Gasquet entered the court ahead of their match, Marc Maury, official tournament announcer, warned the many Danish supporters that the players were about to arrive.
Fans congregate in the alley between the main restaurant of the tournament and the access to the central court. Some are waiting for an autograph from their new idol, others a selfie, but the 20-year-old player won’t be able to satisfy everyone. Morten Ankerdal, Danish journalist, is even present live on TV2—broadcaster of the tournament in Denmark—in the middle of the fans who all seem to know him.
Embracing this atmosphere are two avid fans, Etan and Nohr. The pair are from Aalborg in Denmark, and have travelled across from Italy to see Rune play.
“On vacation in Genoa, we rented an Airbnb for two nights, we’re leaving tomorrow. We really wanted to see him play, it’s the first time. We had to go to Roland-Garros but it was complicated. Since the retirement of Caroline Wozniacki, tennis was no longer an important subject in Denmark,” say the two Danes.
The news of the return to competition of Wozniacki should doubly delight them.
Children rally behind Rune in Nice
Many children are also present at the Hopman Cup, almost all of which wear the jersey of the Danish national team on their backs.
Joanna is the mother of three of them, who came from Denmark especially for the event, explaining: “We wanted to go to France for a long time. Me, I don’t care a bit about tennis but my children are super fans of Rune. We saw the dates of the Hopman Cup and to please them, I took them here,”
The children’s insistence paid off, as Joanna confesses how the decision was made: “They talk to me about it all the time. He really is a star with us.”
These Danish fans will not be completely satisfied, however.
Rune fails to deliver despite heavy support
Eliminated after losing to Switzerland and France, Denmark will not play the Hopman Cup final on Sunday. The expected clash between Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune will not take place.
After a first defeat in two sets against Leandro Riedi at the start of the tournament, Holger Rune suffered an even heavier setback against Richard Gasquet on Thursday, losing 6-2, 6-3.
Lars Christensen’s protege was below his usual level, with the quarter-finalist at Wimbledon never really getting into his game. Unsurprisingly, this caused the disappointment of some fans.
Exiting the court after his final loss, some whistles were heard from the crowd being delivered in Rune’s direction. Despite the small portion expressing their disappointment, even more were still happy to encourage the 20-year-old—at 11 pm, there were still many of them in front of the player lounge waiting for an autograph from their star.
