AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 20, 2025

Holger Rune

Press Conference

J. SINNER/H. Rune

6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: This is not the result you wanted, Holger, but do you feel you can take any positives from the run at Australian Open this year?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, I think today was good and a strange match at the same time. Yeah, definitely good to be back to be back in a match with him. Yeah, disappointed that I couldn't go further, but happy with the work I'm doing with my team.

Being back with Lars feels good. We've been doing better results than I've done the last years. So, yeah, it's a good feeling. It's only three months in, and I feel I'm playing better and better.

Q. There was a long break when Jannik had with a medical treatment. I think it was 11 minutes or something. I just wondered how you felt about that and how much you think it affected the course of the match?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, I mean, I actually just got asked that, but I think obviously it's perfectly fine that you check. It was a very warm day today, even though there was not sun the whole time. It was very humid, so I was also feeling it.

It's fair that he got checked. I think it took longer than I expected. It was around ten minutes, maybe even more. So that was a bit brutal in the middle of the set.

Yeah, again, it is what it is. I just couldn't move on. Yeah, I had good momentum in this moment. So, yeah, it was not the worst timing from his side.

Q. Did you get an explanation as to why it did take so long?

HOLGER RUNE: No, I mean, they checked him on the court, and the umpire said he needed further check, more checks, to make sure he was all right. Then he came back firing, so I don't know what they did.

Q. Just how tough were the conditions, Holger? Also, at what point did you realize that he was struggling physically?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, I mean, I think first set he played great. Second set I was playing good. So it was, like, first set he was better than me. Second set I was better.

Third set, up until he took the medical time-out it was really a battle. Like, we had long rallies. We had this incredible game with sick rallies. It was really, really tough. I mean, I was almost dying, also. It was really a struggle.

Yeah, I could see he was also struggling. So it's normal. It was, as I said, definitely very, very humid, very warm today. Like sticking a lot on the body. Especially having, I don't know, it's like how many minutes, but around 10, 12 minutes' break just, yeah, sitting in the heat for me cooking out there is a bit tough. You know, it is what it is, as I have said.

Just had to move on and maybe be smarter next time to, yeah, I don't know, to wait off court or whatever. Yeah, it was a bit too long.

Q. How bad was your knee issue? How difficult is it to get through these events with your body in one piece?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, especially, you know, playing more than three hour every match is not ideal. I think what I can take out from this tournament is to try to reach the level that I played in the second set today earlier in the tournament so I don't have to play three hours or three-plus hours every match to make it a bit easier for myself, because Jannik -- I didn't look exactly at his time of playing, but I guess he played less tennis than me those eight days.

Yeah, he was definitely more fresh, I guess. That also makes a difference because he plays at a very high level, and I definitely need my legs.

I had knee issue the last year, so being a bit stopping in the middle of everything and having to re-activate was a bit tough. After that I got some good treatment, and it was fine.

Q. Holger, I wonder when you go out of a tournament, whether you completely switch off from it or, for example, it's Alcaraz-Djokovic. Are you the kind of person who will find time to tune into it and watch it from either an enjoyment perspective or from a professional diligence perspective?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, it's definitely a very exciting match. You know, probably two of the most exciting players on tour playing each other. Obviously I think it's going to be an amazing match. Who knows?

Carlos, eager to win here. Novak, very, very eager. You have seen his matches here. So it's going to be a big battle. I don't know where I'll be, if I'll be on the plane or whatever.

Yeah, if I can, I'll try to watch.

Q. There was also a weird break at the net. It was, like, 20-odd minutes. What was that like? What were you thinking at that point? Did you want to stop, or were you quite keen to keep going?

HOLGER RUNE: I mean, I just had the toilet break, so I was fine. I had enough break. It was a 3:15 match, but I think we had 45 minutes' break in the whole match, so it was very, very long.

Yeah, I was happy to keep going. But I mean, you know, this is like probably something that will happen 1 out of 500 matches, you know. It's very rare. Yeah, again, there's nothing to do about it. The net broke. Boom, that's it. We just had to wait. It's the same for him.

So, yeah, that can happen.