Holger Rune says belief sustains him through the rough patches

Holger Rune believes that his self-belief and love of tennis carried him through a barren patch.

Rune said that he tries not to let defeats and setbacks break his confidence.

The Dane insists that every tennis player has to accept the ups and downs because you just cannot win all the time.

“It was tough for sure. When you lose a couple of matches in a row, you’ve got to get back at it and you have [to think about] your goals that you want to achieve. But I think it’s normal in a way,” Rune told ATPTour.com.

“It’s going up and then sometimes it’s going a little bit down. You’ve got to accept it because this is sports. Everybody can beat everybody, so it’s just about accepting it and keep believing.

“[To] keep having belief is the most important. That’s also what kept me going. I’m basically a guy who is very motivated no matter what happens, so that’s one thing that is also helping me.”

Rune says that his losing always plays on the mind but he always feels that a turnaround is coming.

He made the third round at the US Open, but it was on the indoor scene that he really got his form back last term culminating in a Paris Masters title.

“It was really not a nice feeling,” Rune said.

“I kind of told myself that, ‘I still have to be motivated and get back to practice.’ As soon as I got back to practice, because I love tennis so much, I was just super motivated and then I was excited for the American swing and there I got things going a little bit again.”

Rune is a graduate from the Patrick Mouratoglou academy and saw the famous briefly join his team late last season.

Mouratoglou was also impressed with Rune’s resilience.

“It shows about his character that he can bounce back and that’s also what we say about champions,” Mouratoglou told ATPTour.com. “It’s not about what they win, it’s about how they bounce back when they’re in trouble. So I think it’s a good indicator about his personality, how strong it is, how much he wants it and how much he’s able to bounce [back].

“A champion is able to bounce back during a match when he’s in trouble, during a season when he’s in trouble. They’re able to find within themselves the necessary strengths to find the solutions to inverse a difficult situation.”

After a maiden Masters win in Paris Rune wants to push on and threaten the top ten.

“It’s definitely to keep improving a lot. Keep improving my serve, return, everything that’s possible. And it is the same with the mental side: keep staying composed in those important moments, being brave,” Rune said. “There are a lot of small things that are so important.

“Also now that I have been in the Top 10, it’s going to be even harder because people start to know my game more, so I have to keep improving. “It’s going to be fun and a great experience.”

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