Novak Djokovic is all set to take on Holger Rune in the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters 2023. The matchup is perhaps the most anticipated of the tournament. It’s the top seed and World No.1 up against the 20-year-old defending champion, which might decide the winner this year.
Holger Rune is one rare player to have an upper hand over Novak Djokovic when it comes to their head-to-head record. Rune leads 2-1. The last time these two played was this year at the Italian Open in Rome. Rune won that clash 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 and went on to make it to the finals, only to lose to Daniil Medvedev.
Many believe that Holger Rune is a younger version of Novak Djokovic. Although prior to the Basel Indoors tournament, Rune had lost 9 out of 10 matches. But ask Djokovic and he is always full of praise for Rune, calling him extremely quick, agile and someone with great anticipation who can respond to any shot thrown at him.
During the post-match press conference earlier this year, Novak Djokovic was quoted as saying –
“In these kind of conditions, it’s very difficult to get the ball past him.He’s very, very fast, very quick. Great anticipation. Just a very talented, dynamic player, all-around player.
“He was just better. He played too good for me for most part of the match,” Djokovic said. “He kept his nerves and deserved to win.”
On the other hand, Holger Rune was naturally delighted with that win and believed that his strategy of playing with a player’s patience could work against anyone in the world. He too had a few words to say –
“If it’s working against Novak, it works against almost anybody.”
The other time Holger Rune beat Novak Djokovic was co-incidentally in last year’s Paris Masters final, winning 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. In their first meeting, Djokovic took 4 sets to get past Rune at the US Open 2021 Round of 128 match. But Rune was praised for that performance as the World No.1 did not have it easy and knew of the Danish youngster’s potential that time itself.
Will Boris Becker give Holger Rune vital information against Novak Djokovic?
Holger Rune appointing the great Boris Becker as his coach is a talking point in the tennis world. Even Novak Djokovic has noticed how Becker has already got to work, making Rune play a game of chess with him regularly in order to enhance his on-court concentration. Djokovic is full of praise for the German, calling him the right coach to guide Rune at this stage of his career.
“Boris is a dear friend, someone who has been through a lot in the last several years of his life. I’m really glad to see him back on the tour as a coach. It’s probably not going to be that nice and comfortable for me seeing him, if I face Holger, seeing him in the opposite box, because that hasn’t happened yet. If it does, obviously that’s not a great feeling.
“But at the same time, I have maintained a friendly relation with Boris and he knows I really love him a lot and his family. I’m really glad that they came together,” Djokovic said.
It is likely that Boris Becker will use his knowledge to make Holger Rune play in a certain style against Novak Djokovic. However, Rune will need to draw back from his past experience and perhaps test Djokovic’s fitness to stand a chance of winning this time.
Boris Becker coached Novak Djokovic from 2013 to 2016, which resulted in the Serbian superstar having one of the most dominant tennis seasons of all-time in 2015. He won the Wimbledon 2014 and 2015 titles, Australian Open 2015, US Open 2015 and French Open 2016 under his mentorship. Till date, Novak Djokovic has always been concerned for Boris Becker, in fact even financially supporting him when he was in legal trouble and got bankrupt as a result of those.
