ATP Munich: Holger Rune is back - still without a driver's license
Defending champion Holger Rune has arrived in Munich. The focus of the 19-year-old Dane is already clearly on the French Open.
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Apr 18, 2023, 02:15 pm
Holger Rune skipped the Players' Party on Monday evening in the VIP tent at the MTTC Iphitos. The defending champion of the BMW Open only arrived in the Bavarian capital late in the evening after his exhausting week in Monte Carlo. Possibly with a decent amount of sleep, from the outside Rune could well have held his press conference in the afternoon.
But that's how it was shortly before eleven when the youngster climbed onto the podium.
"I have strong memories from last year, after all there were matches that changed my career a bit. I beat my first top five player here (Alexander Zverev in the round of 16, editor's note) "explained Rune. "Munich gave me a lot of self-confidence and the belief that I can achieve even more." What which was also shown by winning the title at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy at the latest in autumn.
Rune starts against Hanfmann
Rune hasn't quite gotten over the elimination at the Australian Open, probably also because - like on Sunday in the final in Monte Carlo - he couldn't take a high lead in the deciding set against Andrey Rublev across the finish line. His goal is still to win a Grand Slam tournament. And if you interpret Holger Rune's answers correctly, then as soon as possible: "My focus is on the French Open. Everything I do in the coming weeks is just to help me improve and build my confidence.”
In Munich, the "title defense" operation begins against a local hero: Yannick Hanfmann. No stranger to Rune. "Yannick is a good player with a strong serve and heavy groundstrokes." Not surprisingly, he needs to do his best to make a successful start in Munich.
But one thing still didn't work out: passing the driver's license test. Last year, Rune only did the winning lap on the Center Court in Munich as a co-driver with Lena Gehrke, after which he announced that he wanted to get his driving license soon. The Dane, who is still only 19, has been too busy for that in the past twelve months due to his successes. Immwrhin: The won BMW i4 serves as a family car, mostly his father drives it.
Here is the individual tableau in Munich
munichmap