THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 8, 2024

Holger Rune

Press Conference

N. DJOKOVIC/H. Rune

6-3, 6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Holger, tough one out there today. Give us your thoughts.

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, yeah, I started very slowly. I thought Novak was playing extremely precise. He was better than me today. I have to give him credit for that. I was not sharp enough on my shots and my serve, in general. Against a player like that, I can't allow myself to have this slow start.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. My question was about this. Do you have an explanation about that? It looks like the worst thing you can do against Djokovic on Centre Court, especially considering the doubt around Novak, about his knee, to start 13 points, zero for him, giving him the first set for kind of free.

HOLGER RUNE: I think it's a bit brutal to say I give it for free. At the end it was 6-3 with one break only. He's been winning sets much easier than he did against me.

Yeah, not an ideal start, but that happens sometimes. You don't have to make it a big deal. You just have to find your rhythm. I think I did after 3-0. I started to serve a little bit better.

Yeah, I mean, it's not - how can I say it - it's not the end of the world the first set I played. It was 6-3. I also lost the first set 6-3 in Paris, Bercy, when I won the final there.

I wasn't playing good enough today. That was the reason. Not the first set was the reason. Of course, there are nerves. He also had nerves. I guess he just handled it better than me. That's why he has 24 Grand Slam titles.

Q. You had quite a few 30-Alls and deuces on Novak's service games. You only managed to open up two break points. Were you disappointed on how you played on the pressure points, specifically on his serve?

HOLGER RUNE: Not really. I mean, I couldn't do much. He was hitting the spots very well. I just had to wish that he missed those shots because he was serving on the line. I mean, I couldn't return properly on those shots. I just had to try to defend and get myself back in the rally.

He didn't allow me to. He was hitting good shots. I don't remember exactly the points. That's my feeling right now.

But mostly I should have just focused more on my own serve and kind of accept that I'm not going to get many chances on his serve, and the way he was serving today made it very difficult.

I just accepted he's Novak. There's a reason he is who he is. I think I could have maybe focused more on just my own serve and maybe go into the tiebreak, see how it would go there.

Q. Novak said afterwards he felt the crowd were disrespectful towards him. It sounded to me like they were shouting your name. It happens a lot. Did you think anyone overstepped the mark and started booing him in the middle of that, or were they saying your name?

HOLGER RUNE: It all started in the US Open the first time we played each other when I was 18 or something. They were shouting my name, Rune. It sounded a little bit like 'boo'. We played each other many more times, but more in like Italy and France, where they don't pronounce my name the same way (smiling). Now we're in England.

Yeah, I mean, if you don't know what was happening, probably it sounded like 'boo'. But if we all know what happened, it was my name.

Obviously he's played so many matches since he played me last time. If he didn't remember, it could probably sound different for him. I don't think it played a massive part in the match.

He was just better than me today. Whether the crowd was this or that, I think was great support for both players, to be honest. They were supporting him on good points. They were supporting me. Nice scenes out there on Centre Court.

Q. Pretty good track record against Novak. You defeated him indoors, clay. The difference tonight, was it to do with the surface maybe?

HOLGER RUNE: The Centre Court is extremely different than the other courts. I mean, so different it is like another tournament honestly. The bounce was stopping a lot more, not going through the court much. Yeah, it was just very different.

As I played the first rounds on Court 18, but then I got to play on Court 1. Even Court 1 was a lot different.

Again, it's not an excuse for me losing the match. I had to adjust a little bit. It was very tough for me to find my rhythm in the beginning. Yeah, I wish I could maybe have the chance to warm up on the court 30 minutes this morning.

There was no wind, no sun. It made it also easier, but the surface was different.

Q. Did you sense anything different, the way Novak played against you, regardless of the surface?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, I mean, he's always going to change. The times that I managed to defeat him, I'm not going to expect him to play the same way because he didn't win. That's why he's a champion. He always finds a new way of making it more difficult for the opponent.

Today he was hurting me a lot with his shot. I have to be honest. I was moving far behind the baseline. That's credit to him. He was really precise.

Also I was more disappointed about my quality of my shots. I don't think I was really going, like I do in practices, as I've done the rest of the times I played him. I was holding a little bit back.

Nerves, you know, not feeling the ball as I wished. Again, I had time enough to find my rhythm, and I didn't manage to do it.

Q. How did you feel moving on the grass, also the grass season in general? A lot of players have slipped, quite a few injuries. I'm not sure if it's more this season than other seasons.

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, one thing I didn't think about the Centre Court, it was not very slippery for me. I knew he fell a couple of times. I think I slipped one time, but I didn't fall, which is good because I think I fell few times in the other matches.

So yeah, the courts were okay for me. But for other players, obviously we had slips. I saw Grigor slip. Zverev as well. Many players had that, yeah, kind of issue.

But, yeah, I mean, it's grass court. It's so different from any other surfaces. It's just about adjusting your movements. As I said in Queen's as well, it's a big change from going from clay to grass.

Q. You started your career against top players with seven won and just one loss. Is it something that is concerning you, is related to something particular? What happened?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, I think that obviously when you're new on the tour, players don't know you that well, which makes it not easier, but it makes it more difficult for the top guys because they don't know where my strengths are and my weaknesses are. They just got to go with the flow on the court and try to find solutions.

Also, coming on the tour, there are not many statistics on me, where I serve, where I'm strongest. They don't know it that well. Where now they know it extremely well because obviously I'm playing almost every week.

But at the same time, I mean, I'm improving. I should be improving. Yeah, it's just about trusting the process. Yeah, I'm going to try to be back at my best level and improve.

Q. You said that you should have focused more on the service games earlier. What do you think you should have done in those service games?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, I think I should, first of all, accept more that I couldn't break him because he was serving well. Sometimes it's a bit luck here and there that you get the break. If I focused more on my serve and just managed to hold a few more times, maybe it would put more pressure on his serve.

But I think my focus was to mix my serve up a lot because he's one of the best, if not the best, returners of all time. He strikes it very clean. It's about mixing up the pace, the speed and everything.

But yeah, I didn't feel the serve as good as I used to.