The 20-year-old Danish rising star in tennis, Holger Rune idolizes Roger Federer as his hero in the sport. He has previously admitted imitating the signature shots of the Swiss Maestro during the early stages of his career. But did he imbibe the cool and calm on-court behaviour of his idol? The other Swiss legend, 38-year-old Stan Wawrinka thinks otherwise. Both of them have found themselves in the middle of a war of words over the last few months and here’s what they have to say.

Holger Rune hasn’t been having the best time lately since his recent exit from the semi-finals of the Swiss Indoors. He now looks forward to defending his title at Paris Masters and we might see a Rune-Wawrinka battle on the field in a few weeks or so. But till then, their off-field saga continues to intrigue fans.

Holger Rune takes a dig at Stan Wawrinka

The 3-time Grand Slam winner, Stan Wawrinka, has unusually been at a loggerheads with the next-gen ATP young gun. In an unfortunate series of fiery interactions that first began almost a year ago, the exchanges seem to have escalated again. In March, the Swiss believed that the young Dane – who recently also joined forces with Boris Becker – might be heading down a dangerous path which he would end up ruin later. But How exactly did Rune respond to such a startling comment?

According to French publisher L’Equipe, Rune said, “That’s funny. I have many friends in the locker room. I know Carlos Alcaraz well since our younger years, Novak is incredibly nice, he helped me a lot. (Marton) Fucsovics (54 in the world) is great. There are lots of cool guys on the circuit! I’ve never had any problems. In life, there’s lots of jealousy, that’s all I can do say.”

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Surely their verbal exchange is far from over. As the flames of the fire are fanned further, the buildup for the match wouldn’t have been possible. But what might have led the usually calm Swiss man cross parts with the notoriously testy Danish player?

The buildup of Rune vs Wawrinka

Holger Rune now looks forward to being at the helm of Paris at the 54-year-old tournament. After an epic run 12 months ago, the graph has gone downhill for the Dane. But defeating the current world number one, Novak Djokovic at the finals of last year’s Paris Masters was surely a moment to remember for him. He came to the tournament last year after clinching the title at the Stockholm Open and reaching the finals of Swiss Indoors. But the faceoff with Stan Wawrinka in the first-round match then caught all the eyes of the fans.

The 3 time Grand Slam winner found himself caught in an exchange with the teenager and called him a ‘baby’ for his on-court reactions. Though Rune had the last laugh at Paris in 2022, Wawrinka came back to Indian Wells earlier this year and prevailed over the 20-year-old. After the defeat, Rune asked Wawrinka if he had anything to say. An initially-confused Wawrinka retorted later in an interview: “The only thing I can add is that he is a young player, a very great champion already with enormous potential. But he is creating a reputation in the locker room that he will regret one day.” 

Rune has been criticized several times for his on-court behavior. But as long as performance is on his side, nothing else matters. Who do you think will have the last laugh in Paris?

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