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USA Today via Reuters

USA Today via Reuters

After a season full of traditionally aligned tennis tours, Holger Rune is currently adjusting himself to a unique format at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown. While the tournament has rules that are designed to be completely different from those of all other events, Rune recently lashed out in anger after he faced a defeat. As the young Dane referred to the tournament’s format as ‘weird’, he recently appeared to be changing his tone towards the event.

Soon after Rune moved up to the top four in the unique tournament, he said words that showed a quick shift in his temper, bringing fans into a situation of a confusing judgment over the 20-year-old’s flexibility.

Holger Rune switches his tone towards the unique format of the UTS

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In a recent series of events, young tennis star Holger Rune has shifted his tone from despising to appreciating the unique format of the UTS Grand Final. The young Danish star recently voiced his disapproval on day one about the tour’s format, as he mentioned, “I don’t enjoy it ! I don’t know it is still tennis But it is weird.” While the young Dane gained two victories after a defeat, he seems to have adapted to the unconventional rules that make UTS different from traditional tennis tours.

“It’s for sure new. You never had music between points, you never had one serve,” Rune said, highlighting the unique features of Patrick Mouratoglou‘s tournament. “It doesn’t frustrate me, you just have to get used to it. It’s just different, and that’s the whole point of this event, to make it different. I just told myself not to give too much importance to the format, to try to fit in. I just told myself to enjoy and see how it goes, really,” he added.

Having faced challenges on the court during the early stages of the tournament after a defeat against Jack Draper, Rune seems to have adopted a more positive attitude now with his victory over Alexander Bublik. However, along with changing his perspective toward Serena Williams‘ former coach’s tour format, the 20-year-old also gave details on how the tour differs from the traditional ones.

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Rune highlights the differences between UTS and traditional tours

After Holger Rune gained two victories despite making more than half of his serves as double faults, he couldn’t stop himself from expressing his astonished thoughts after a sudden-death victory over his Kazakh opponent. “So I made more than half of my serves a double fault, and I still won the match? I mean… I’m proud of myself,” he exclaimed.

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After expressing excitement over his unexpected victory, Rune continued to explain the unique dynamics of serving in the unique tournament as he mentioned, “You are more free [on the opponent’s serve] because he starts the rally. Normally it’s always great to be the server, but here, I don’t know, it’s great to be the returner.” This revelation highlighted Rune’s newly accepted strategy, proving that success in the Ultimate Tennis Showdown requires different planning than in traditional tours.

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As the young Dane moved ahead to the top four, his chances to make history as the first player of Scandinavian descent to achieve this feat seem to be increasing. Will Holger Rune be able to carry his positive attitude in the upcoming year?

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