Rune after reaching Indian Wells final: “I do believe that I’m the best player”
Holger Rune’s confidence level is understandably sky high after reaching the Indian Wells Masters final on Saturday. He sat down at the Tennis Channel desk following his win over Daniil Medvedev.
© Tristan Lapierre / Tennis Majors
Holger Rune beat Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 6-4 in the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday afternoon. Although both sets were relatively competitive, Rune was clearly the better player — at least on this day — from start to finish.
During the Tennis Channel broadcast, commentator Jim Courier said that Rune’s best level is better than Medvedev’s best level — not only today, but in general.
Afterward, the 13th-ranked Dane sat down at the Tennis Channel desk at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Following up on Courier’s comment, broadcaster Steve Weismann asked, “You at your very best — is anyone better than you?”
“I don’t want to be the one answering that question,” Rune responded. “I mean, I think you have to believe that you’re the best player. And I do believe that I’m the best player. I think if you don’t have that belief, you cannot beat the best players.
“Obviously there’s a lot on paper — ‘this guy’s won this much, blah, blah, blah.’ But if you look too much at that and you’re like, ‘I’m playing Daniil; he’s a Grand Slam champion.’ I don’t think it’s the right mindset to go into the match with. I have tremendous respect for all players, and obviously Daniil. But you have to go in with the mindset like, I can beat this guy.’ And that’s what I do every time.”
Confidence is nothing new for the 21-year-old. Last summer, he infamously offered his aspirations that he would be on par with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. “Hopefully they’ll be calling us the next Big 3,” he said.
For now, the former world No 4 remains well behind those two Grand Slam champions. But he will be back in the top 10 if he captures the Indian Wells title on Sunday, a result that could send him on his way back toward the top.
