Rune on whether Alcaraz motivates him to improve: "My goal is not to be better than Carlos but to be the best I can be"

Holger Rune grew up on Tour with Alcaraz but he isn't competing with him to be the best, he is focusing on becoming the best version of himself.

With Rune and Alcaraz essentially growing up together, parallels were always made. They only became stronger as they both had strong transitions to professional tennis with the Spaniard getting there sooner. As the more successful player as of now, Alcaraz could serve as an inspiration to Rune but he isn't looking it that way.

He explained:

"My goal is not to be better than Carlos but to be the best that I can be. I have to focus on myself. What Alcaraz has achieved is incredible and he deserves to be where he is. I must make my way. He is a friend and a rival at the same time. I saw him yesterday and congratulated him for finishing as number one. We have known each other since we were 11 years old and we have a good connection. We played a lot against each other in juniors. He beat me and so did I, but always in very close matches."

He did not get the chance to play at the ATP Finals but he was present as the first alternate getting to experience all of it. Speaking about the event Rune said:

"I would feel privileged to be part of this group. But we can't yet rule out Nadal, who has won two Grand Slam titles this year, and Djokovic, who won one. In almost all tournaments, they are in the finals. They have very long careers and we are very young."