AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 23, 2023

Holger Rune

Press Conference

A. RUBLEV/H. Rune

6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Tough luck, Holger. You couldn't have been closer. You must be proud of the way you fought until the very end.

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, for sure. This one hurts a lot. It was super close. I had my chances. He played well, as well.

The match points, nothing really to do. The luck was on his side. I think I did a lot. I fought until the end. It was tough luck.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What does it say about where you are with your game that you've come out of a fourth round against the No. 5 seed and you're pretty disappointed to lose?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, as I said, I think it was a great match. I think I had all the chances that I could wish for. I just didn't close him. I had 5-2 in the fifth, 5-3 in the tiebreak. I thought I played strong from the fourth set. I raised my game a little bit.

I think I took my chances well, just not in the fifth set. That is where it matters. He was better than me in the important moments. Congrats to him.

Q. How do you tend to deal with losses? How long do you think this will linger? What will the next few days look like for you?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, I hope not too long (smiling). Of course, it's not the end of the world, but it hurts.

I have to look at the other side, that there's few things I could have done better. So when I'm playing the next Grand Slam, this won't happen again hopefully.

Yeah, look, it was a great match. We both fought until the end. He was maybe a little bit more lucky than I was. Of course, he went for it. I was maybe a bit passive on a few points, but he could have missed a few. He made them.

I thought it was a cool match. I mean, amazing atmosphere.

Q. I wanted to ask you about the moment in the fifth set. I think you asked your box to talk to you less maybe.

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah.

Q. Now you're allowed coaching. Do you usually like to get quite a lot of information and it wasn't the moment?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, normally I like to get a few tips here and there. Not all the time. But I thought I was so close that I didn't -- I needed to focus just on the court. These moments, it's really about, as we saw today, one point here, one point there, that makes the difference.

It's more as I'm focused on the court, can prevail good tennis. If I'm not there on the court, it's tough. Especially in these moments, I feel like it's very important to stick to the game plan and be 100% focused on the court. If you're not focused, maybe you lose one, two points, and that's enough.

Q. At one point you struggled with cramps in your career. Seems like you're much fitter now, not struggling. Is that something you've really worked on?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, I felt good physically. I felt a bit dizzy in the beginning of the fourth set, but that was a short period of time. I took some extra electrolytes and extra salt to feel better and feel more fresh in my eyes and my head.

Yeah, physically and body-wise I feel good. I mean, I feel like I could have continued, if it matters. Of course, there's no more than five sets. I feel like I was there physically, tennis-wise. Only the pressure points could have been a lot better, I thought.

I thought from the baseline I was strong. All around I was playing good. Served good in periods of the match, not all the time. I could have served better at the end. But I see it as a bit of tension. This I have to work on.

Q. You strike me as somebody that likes to test yourself against the very best in the world. Andrey on the court just now said he would prefer to play anybody but Djokovic in the next round. Had you won today, would you have wanted to play Djokovic?

HOLGER RUNE: I would have wanted to play Djokovic. Obviously we'll have to see if he wins. De Minaur is super pumped. It's his home tournament. I think it's going to be a tricky match.

But Novak, he comes up with incredible tennis when it matters. This is why he's so good. So it's going to be for sure interesting match.

It wouldn't surprise me if Novak is in the quarters, for sure.