‘I’m Centered on the Grass Now’

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday June 8, 2023

It would have been simple to lean on the fatigue excuse. But Holger Rune wasn’t having any of it after falling in 4 units to Casper Ruud in 4 units in Wednesday’s last males’s singles quarterfinal at Roland-Garros.

“I was fine physically. No excuse,” he stated. “I just didn’t play my level. It’s tough, but sometimes it’s like this, and you have to learn from it, come back stronger.”

It was a very painful begin for the 20-year-old Dane, who received simply three video games within the first two units and didn’t appear to be himself in any respect.

“I think I started very, very bad, unfortunately. I didn’t find my level at all the first two sets,” Rune stated. “Then I started to play a little bit better. Found some rhythm in my game. Managed to put him under pressure. But, again, it’s too costly to start so late.

“Against a great player like him, he deserved to win because, first of all, I wasn’t there the first two sets, but you cannot allow yourself to do that when you play a player like Casper, and any player at the top of the game, because it’s too long of a way back. Credit to him for staying there.”

Never discovered my recreation at @rolandgarros this 12 months, however was preventing with my coronary heart in each match ❤️‍🔥 love Paris ❤️ pic.twitter.com/s6omnyFtpW

— Holger Rune (@holgerrune2003) June 8, 2023

Rune says he’s able to put the clay season behind him and stay up for the grass.

He completed the clay season at 16-4 with a title in Munich and a last at Rome, the place he defeated Ruud within the semis earlier than shedding to Medvedev within the last. He went 4-3 towards the Top 10 on the clay and likewise defeated then World No.1 Novak Djokovic in Rome.

“We have another Grand Slam around the corner, so I hope to be stronger there,” he stated. “I’m happy that the clay season is over now. I’m ready to move on. Yeah, just focused on the grass now.”

The Dane has performed 118 matches for the reason that begin of final season, and he says he’ll want time to refresh his physique. But the World No.6 was unwilling to remove any credit score from Ruud for his win.

“I have constant some problems, but it wasn’t anything that would have — if I didn’t feel it, it wouldn’t have changed the match,” he stated. “So it’s not something that I can use as an excuse. He was just better than me today, so I have to take it and move on and try to improve.”