"It was crazy to watch a Danish player win a Grand Slam": Rune recalls watching Wozniacki win Australian Open and inspiring him

Holger Rune revealed that Caroline Wozniacki was a major inspiration during a joint interview at the Cincinnati Open.

The 20-year-old young star is in Cincinnati to compete in the Western & Southern Open this week. As the sixth seed, he will receive a bye in the first round and will make his debut on Wednesday, August 16th.

Just before beginning his campaign in the tournament, Rune sat down with former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki for a joint interview. During the conversation, Rune admitted that the Danish player had been one of his significant inspirations as he grew up and developed in the world of tennis.

“My first memory of her is watching her from TV and she was playing all the tournaments and we were on the couch, all the family, watching her,” Rune said.

“The memory that stands out was when she won the Australian Open. We were all watching. It was crazy to watch a Danish player win a Grand Slam in an incredible match, so it was a big inspiration.”

Wozniacki, who has just returned to the WTA tour after more than three years of absence, highlighted Rune's impressive rise, as he reached a career-best ranking of world No. 5 this week.

“It's just been awesome to see the quick progression that Holger's been making and now obviously being top five in the world is so special,” Wozniacki said.

“It's such a small country, so when anyone does something big in sports or in anything else, you always root for them and it's just been so fun to watch Holger just consistently play so well.”

Rune also had words of admiration for Wozniacki. The 33-year-old Danish player made a return from retirement at the Canadian Open and secured a victory over Kimberly Birrel, although she was defeated in the second round by the recent Wimbledon champion, Marketa Vondrousova:

“It's difficult after three years without tennis to come back and win matches. It's a big, big thing to do,” Rune said.

“For sure I think she's playing really well, to be honest.”

Wozniacki later said: “He also kicked my butt a couple of weeks ago.”

“I don't know about that!” the 20-year-old athlete replied.

“I've been on the other side of the ball and it's coming at you really fast,” she added.

Rune mentioned the difference between men's and women's tennis to explain his victory in a practice session with Wozniacki.

“She has an incredible backhand, but obviously men's and women's tennis is very different,” Rune said of Wozniacki's game.

“Her backhand and her fighting spirit I feel are her two best qualities. It took her to World No. 1 and Grand Slam champion.”

“Nobody ever won a Grand Slam in singles in Denmark. So to see her do it was like, ‘Okay, maybe I can also do it one day’,” Rune added.

“It just makes the belief more real if you see somebody do it.”