CINCH CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 17, 2024

Holger Rune

Queens Club

Press Conference

J. THOMPSON/H. Rune

4-6, 7-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Sorry for the tough match, Holger. Could you please just briefly walk us through what's going on after the first set.

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, yeah. It was a good start. I think I had the rallies and my service games under control. Managed to break him once. Was a close second set. Wasn't sharp enough in the tiebreak.

Then after that, he got the break. I slipped, unfortunate, and yeah, he just stayed consistent on his serve.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Bad luck, Holger. You were a bit frustrated about the court. Just wondering how you felt moving on the court and what it was like.

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, it was quite slippery, to be honest. But, yeah, I mean, I think I slipped maybe three times. One time quite important.

But, you know, it's the same on both sides and he managed to not slip. Just need to get better balance for the upcoming tournaments and, yeah, just be better in general.

Q. Is that the kind of thing that just in previous years has come with time spent on the grass? I know it's a short season, but over the weeks, do you tend to feel a bit less slippy on your feet?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, I mean, honestly, like, timing-wise I thought it was easier this year to do the transition, but movements, I was working more on it last year. So I'm going to go back to prioritize that more and, you know, do more physical training on the grass so I get used to all kind of positions and so I'm able to move good.

Q. How many days off after the French did you have? How long have you been on the grass since before today?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, I had four days off after French Open, and then I came here. So I was practicing from Thursday, so four days, which is good but it's not, you know, a lot.

But last year I came and I had three days, so, you know, sometimes it's like you think you prepare better but then you do worse and the opposite (smiling). Just gotta learn from it and come back and play better.

Q. Obviously you had quite a good grass season last year. In terms of heading into Wimbledon, how are you feeling going into there?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, it's obviously not ideal right now, but I might, you know, get the chance to play a few more matches hopefully before, and let's see.

You know, I think Grand Slams are a lot different. Let's say today was a Grand Slam, I still would have had time to find my rhythm and everything to come back and win. But, you know, it's short, so I had to be better in the decisive moments and I wasn't.

You know, I'm not worried about Wimbledon, to be honest. I still believe in myself. Yeah, all good.

Q. Just from the Australian perspective, could you tell me about the challenge that Jordan presents on grass, his quality or his strengths on grass?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, I think without having played him on other surfaces or even practiced with him, actually, I imagine he's good on grass. I think he feels comfortable, has a good serve, he's a good mover, a flat backhand, spinny forehand. He seemed like he felt comfortable out there.

Yeah, again, I feel like honestly the match was, you know, up to me a long way of the match, but then after, I went down and he stayed consistent. You know, that was more important to stay consistent than to play good or bad. He did that, and he was, you know, taking many right decisions, I think. Yeah, he deserved to win.

Q. I remember last year you were saying that you watched Carlos beat Novak at Wimbledon and it made you want to be there. Now that you have seen Carlos win the French and Jannik becoming No. 1, what does that do for your own motivations and goals?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, it's amazing to see what Carlos has been doing. You know, winning French Open and already three Grand Slam titles at such a young age is crazy. It's good for the sport. He's doing a great job with his team. All credits to him.

Q. In general, how are you feeling about your own game and the clay season? Obviously you had that amazing comeback against Cobolli and a tight match against Zverev. How did you reflect on that whole period and the French Open?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, disappointing clay season, to be honest. I was hoping to do better and believing to do better than I did, but that's how it is. I can't change it.

Just got to stay in the moment and try to improve. You know, it's about the long run. I'm in it and I'm hoping to do better and going to work harder to play better and to improve my game and my results.

Q. I just wanted to come back to the court very briefly. It looked to me, I watched you practice with Jubby yesterday, looks like the practice courts have had quite a lot more, obviously more wear on them than center. Did you find quite an appreciable difference between moving on a practice court and moving on center court? Might it have been better if there had been more play on it to help wear it in a bit?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, it helps for the movement when it's played a little bit, but then when it's played a lot on it gets slippery again. Yeah, then it gets kind of dirt behind the baseline.

I feel like it is what it is. You know, we just have to adjust and, you know, didn't do it good enough today. I can blame the court, but that's not going to help. I can only blame myself. Just have to move better, stay more balanced, and then I believe that I'm going to play better.