“All of a sudden, it came to my mind” – Federer inspires Rune in crucial moment
Holger Rune revealed that Roger Federer helped him in a key moment during his five-set win over Flavio Cobolli on Thursday at Roland-Garros
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Holger Rune drew inspiration from the most unlikely of places on Thursday evening at Roland-Garros, with the No 13 seed surviving a match tiebreaker against Flavio Cobolli in the second round.
Down 5-0 in the deciding tiebreaker, having been up two sets to love at one stage, Rune suddenly remembered something from Roger Federer’s career.
“All of a sudden, it came into my mind a match when Roger played Tennys Sandgren at the Australian Open,” shared Rune. “He won in five-set match tiebreak as well, and Sandgren had many chances. It was kind of in my mind. I don’t know how it appeared, it just did.”
The Dane went on to explain that Federer’s relaxed approach to tennis inspired him to do the same against Cobolli.
“I just switched my brain off a little bit and just tried to go for my shots,” he explained.
“Roger is always very relaxed when he’s playing. I told myself, okay, let’s try to relax. Then I started to hit my shots better, more freedom, got back on track.”
Rune’s secret weapon in tiebreaks
Coming into Roland-Garros, Rune was 14-2 in tiebreaks this year. The world No 13 has won an incredible 65.5 percent of tiebreaks he’s played across his career, making him one of the most clutch players on the ATP Tour.
How does he do it?
“I mean, I have something I tell myself before the tiebreak,” shared Rune. “But I’m not going to say that.
“You know, I tend to play my best tennis when I’m in those tiebreaks,” he continued. “I don’t have, like, millions of words to say what exactly is happening, but I’m just really playing my best tennis and I’m just very, very focused.”
Rune will need his best tennis over the coming days. The Dane is on a collision course with Alexander Zverev in the round of 16, provided both win their third round matches over the weekend.
