Caroline Wozniacki cheers on fellow Dane Holger Rune, keeping close eye on action at Australian Open 2023
Caroline Wozniacki showed her support for Holger Rune while keeping a close eye on other matches on a busy Saturday at the 2023 Australian Open. The 2018 Australian Open women's singles champion cheered on fellow Dane Rune as he took on Ugo Humbert in a third-round match.
Wozniacki's good wishes, albeit from afar, helped 19-year-old Rune as the World No. 10 won a tough third-set tiebreak to beat Humbert 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(5) and progress into the fourth round of the Australian Open for the first time in his career.
As a big fan of the sport, Wozniacki was watching multiple matches at the same time on a big screen, including another third-round clash between Aryna Sabalenka and Elise Mertens.
"Let's go, Holger Rune," Wozniacki wrote on her Instagram Stories, along with a short clip of her Australian Open viewing station.
Rune will look to gain inspiration from Wozniacki's run in Melbourne back in 2018. The Danish teenager, who rose to great heights towards the end of the 2022 season by going on a winning run and entering the Top-10, will aim to make his second Grand Slam quarterfinal when he faces 5th seed Andrey Rublev in the Round of 16 on Monday. He could then come up against nine-time champion Novak Djokovic, who he beat to win the Paris Masters title, in the last-eight stage.
Rune is yet to drop a set at the 2023 Australian Open, with wins against Filip Krajinovic, Maxime Cressy, and Humbert.
Holger Rune has World No. 1 goal in mind for 2023 season
Holger Rune has set his sights on becoming the World No. 1 this season itself as he aims to further climb up the ranks at the highest level of the sport. Rune, who rose from outside the Top-100 to the Top-10 in very quick time, said that the achievement "seemed impossible" last year, but he still managed it. Having got there earlier than he expected, the Danish star now wants to become World No. 1 earlier than most people expect him to.
"I do every year. Now it's to be No. 1. I went from 103 to 10, now 11, and it seemed quite impossible, but I believed in them," Holger Rune said in a press conference at the Adelaide International 1.
Rune said that his initial goal for 2022 was to finish in the Top-25.
"Actually my goal was not to be top 10 this year but to be top 25. I beat that by quite a lot," Rune revealed.
"Obviously I have to do better than I did this year to be No. 1, but I'm really pumped and looking forward to it," he added.
Rune reached the finals in four of his last five tournaments of the 2022 season, winning two titles in Stockholm and Paris, respectively. While he beat Novak Djokovic in the Paris Masters final, he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Stockholm Open final.