Nick Kyrgios rates Holger Rune as future Grand Slam winner as he eyes ‘cool’ doubles partnership with Dane

Shahida Jacobs
February 17, 2023

Nick Kyrgios believes Holger Rune has the potential to “win several Grand Slams”, adding he “would love to play” doubles with the rising star.

The 19-year-old Rune announced his arrival on the big stage last year as he won his maiden ATP Tour singles title at the Bavarian Championship in April and followed it up with an upset win over world No 4 Stefanos Tsitispas during his quarter-final run at Roland Garros.

However, it was only towards the latter end of the season that he really left his mark as he reached three finals in October – winning the Stockholm Open while he also finished runner-up at the Sofia Open and Swiss Indoors.

He then won the biggest title of his career, the Paris Masters, and he beat a string of top-class players en route to lifting his maiden ATP Masters trophy as he defeated seventh seed Andrey Rublev, world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz and eighth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime during his run to the final. In the final itself he came from a set down to beat the great Novak Djokovic.

Rune currently sits at a career-high No 9 in the ATP Rankings and Kyrgios is excited about the Dane’s potential.

In an interview with Denmark’s BT, he said: “Holger’s potential is incredible, and it is big enough to win several Grand Slams during his career. It could be big for the sport of tennis.”

READ MORE: Holger Rune close to realising his Olympic dream – ‘I am super excited’

Earlier this year during a Q&A session on Instagram Stories, Kyrgios was asked who he would like to coach or mentor and replied: “Yes I would love this!!! The one person I want to help is @holgerrune!!!!”

He added: “Holger is so entertaining to watch play. He has an incredible work ethic because he just loves the game.

“But sometimes he might need some fun in his game, I think. And I think I would be able to bring that. He already has it all in place in terms of how he’s going to do things, but maybe I could come up with a few other things.”

And during his interview with BT, the Australian admitted he wouldn’t just want to coach Rune as he is also keen on teaming up with the youngster in doubles.

“Whenever Holger wants, I’m ready. Maybe even later this year in a smaller tournament,” Kyrgios – who won the 2022 Australian Open men’s doubles alongside his compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis – said.

“I’m sure we would love to play together. We could be a pretty cool doubles pair. So let’s see. Maybe I’ll ask him.”

Holger Rune Nick Kyrgios