Holger Rune claims passion is the reason for his energetic style of play as he overcame an injury scare to reach the last 16 at the Australian Open.
The Dane is into the second week in Melbourne after a 6-4 6-2 7-6(5) win over Ugo Humbert.
Rune hit 26 winners and broke on four occasions as he triumphed in straight sets.
However not everything went the way of the world number ten as in the second set he twisted his ankle.
After receiving treatment, Rune was able to finish the match unscathed completing victory in just over two hours.
In his press conference Rune said the injury was nothing serious, “I fell in the beginning of the second set, but yeah, it wasn’t too bad. I didn’t twist. I fell directly over,” Rune said.
“I mean, I was able to play full. The third set, of course, I was a bit worried what happened, but I saw the slow motion after the match. Nothing dangerous. Didn’t check it yet, but I was able to play.
“I relaxed a lot more because I was a bit afraid, but honestly I played very good after it happened. So I’m feeling hopeful.”
Rune will be hoping all is well with the ankle as he will look to take advantage of exits from Daniil Medvedev, Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud.
The Dane made his breakthrough by beating Novak Djokovic at the ATP 1000 final in Paris, securing his first title at that level.
In the press conference Rune pointed to passion as a reason for his energetic game style and believes in his game to make a deep run in Melbourne, “Well, I think passion, to be honest, because I have so much passion to play matches, to compete,” Rune said when asked about where he gets his energy from.
“To be in this kind of tournament is really exciting, so I think all of this together is bringing me so much energy, and basically I love to play tennis, and to play tennis in this event is what I’ve been dreaming about since I was a little kid, so I’m leaving it all out.
“I think honestly I’m playing well, actually. I think I’m managing very well how I’m playing each shot at a time on the court. I think I stay very close to the baseline, try to play as aggressive as I can and put the opponent under pressure.
“Pumping myself up when needed. But yeah, I mean, I’m trying to improve every day, honestly, mental, physical tennis-wise. It’s a long process, and I’m far from finished still, and I think this is one of the beauty with tennis that
you can always improve something, and this is what I really admire.”
Rune will hope to continue his improvement and form when he takes on fifth seed Andrey Rublev in the fourth round on Monday.
The Dane leads the head-to-head 1-0 having won their only previous meeting in Paris.
