"Time flies" - Holger Rune and his mother Aneke reminisce about Dane's presence at ABN AMRO Open 10 years ago ahead of participation in 2023 edition
World No. 9 Holger Rune is among the seeded players at the upcoming ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam. He will be expected to have a long run at the tournament.
The Dane will take part in the ATP 500 event following his defeat to Maxime Cressy in the semifinals of the Open Sud de France in Montpellier. Rune was the top seed at the competition but was beaten 7-5, 6-7(3), 7-6(4) by the American.
Ahead of his participation at the 2023 ABN AMRO Open, the 19-year-old shared an image of himself from the 2013 edition of the tournament on Twitter, with the caption:
"@abnamroopen in 2013, looking forward to play for real now"
looking forward to play for real now 🦾 #rotterdam
@abnamroopen in 2013 😂 looking forward to play for real now 🦾 #rotterdam https://t.co/0lQzY45SsF
Holger Rune's mother Aneke also shared the same image of her son on her Instagram stories, with her caption reading:
"Time flies."
Rune was only eight years old during the 2013 ABN AMRO Open which was won by Juan Martin Del Potro after he beat Julien Benneteau 7-6(2), 6-3 in the final. Richard Gasquet and Grigor Dimitrov both competed at the Rotterdam event that year and are also in this year's main draw.
Holger Rune has a 5-3 record so far in 2023
Holger Rune has won five out of eight matches so far this season. The Dane started 2023 at the Adelaide International 1 where he was the fifth seed. He faced Yoshihito Nishioka in the opening round and lost 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Rune then entered the Australian Open as the ninth seed and booked his place in the fourth round with straight-set wins over Filip Krajinovic, Maxime Cressy, and Ugo Humbert.
Here, he faced Andrey Rublev in what turned out to be a thrilling encounter. Rune had two match points in the final set but the Russian saved them and eventually went on to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(9).
The Dane then entered the Open Sud de France in Montpellier as the top seed and reached the semifinals following straight-set wins over Marc-Andrea Huesler and Gregoire Barriere. Here, he was beaten 7-5, 6-7(3), 7-6(4) by Maxime Cressy.
Rune is seeded fourth at the ABN AMRO Open and is among the title contenders. He will face a qualifier in the first round of the tournament and the winner will take on either Marc-Andrea Huesler or Gijs Brouwer in the second round.