Australian tennis legend Todd Woodbridge thinks Holger Rune is a mixture of Nick Kyrgios and Lleyton Hewitt. Rune, 19, is already making a reputation for himself of being one of the biggest fighters and competitors on the Tour.
Back in the day, Hewitt was known as someone who was willing to die on the court in order to win. Also, Rune is not afraid to show his true self on the court as the Dane always speaks and acts as he feels without any pretending.
Always being real and never pretending is a Kyrgios characteristic.
Woodbridge sees Kyrgios, Hewitt in Rune
“I’ve been incredibly impressed watching his physical development; the building of the legs and the body to be robust, to be able to absorb everything.
Talent requires ticking many boxes. One of the key ones for me is, yes, he’s a street-fighter with a will to win, but he has this work ethic which is making a huge difference and will be part of the reason he’s going to continue being successful.
Currently I don’t see weaknesses; I only see opportunities to continue to make that better. What I love about him is that he’s not scared to win; he’s right in there and wants those victories. I’ve watched a lot of his practice clips and how he’s working on the power and movement.
It’s really solid,” Rune told the Australian Open website. Woodbridge added: “In essence, he’s taken over the role of Nick Kyrgios in this generation, but he has this competitiveness and win-at-all-costs attitude, which is what Lleyton Hewitt had so much of.” Rune is not afraid to challenge the best and that showed when he met Novak Djokovic in the 2022 Paris Masters final.
Even though Rune was playing his first Masters final and against Djokovic, he showed courage and ended up beating the Serb in three sets for his first Masters title. Rune’s next two big goals are winning a Grand Slam and becoming No 1.
