Holger Rune Speaks His Mind About Jannik Sinner

As he awaits his return to the court following a serious Achilles tendon injury, Danish tennis player Holger Rune spoke about the upcoming Wimbledon tournament, which kicks off in two days in London. Rune named defending champion Jannik Sinner as the top favorite; he trained with Sinner in Monte Carlo a week ago.

“Jannik is clearly the favorite: the first thing that defines a great player on grass is his ability to play aggressively. You also have to make the right decisions on the court and be able to maintain balance in your movements,” the Dane explained in an interview published by TennisTemple. “I think that’s why we’ve seen Jannik play so well at Wimbledon over the years, just like Carlos Alcaraz: the best players are the ones who move the best.”

The grass surface can hold many surprises: “The biggest change has to do with movement. It’s not so much a matter of timing or anything else, but rather of knowing how to handle changes of direction, short passes, accelerations, and decelerations… All of this is very important, and Jannik and Carlos do it very well.”

For the first time since becoming a regular on the main tour, Sinner arrived at Wimbledon without having played any official tournaments on grass. This decision aligns him with Novak Djokovic’s philosophy; after his first London triumph in 2011, Djokovic played official grass-court events leading up to the Championships only in 2017 and 2018. To make up for the lack of official matches, he participated in the Armani Tennis Classic at the Hurlingham Club, where on Tuesday he defeated Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-3, and on Thursday he won a practice session on Court 1 at the All England Club against Djokovic himself, 6-3.