LONDON: Holger Rune's popularity at Wimbledon is growing with fans getting behind tennis' irascible young star. It may all be in the name though.
The 20-year-old Dane, who thwacks the tennis ball, entertained the galleries with his bulldozer-like style of play, raising his level to chants of 'Rooney, Rooney' that drifted across these gardenesque grounds. Rune, the world No. 6, leaned on the affection for Wayne Rooney, the legendary Man United and England footballer, to pull home.
When in the thick of action the Dane hadn't made the connection. "I guess it's not the worst thing. It's great!" said Rune, playing only his second Wimbledon.
"They're showing really, really good support and it's a nice feeling to be out there with many Danes and British people wishing me the best."
Rune, who struck 45 winners, put out seasoned Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-4 to make the third round at SW19 for the first time. The 20-year-old will play another Spaniard, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina next.
World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, who knocked out Frenchman Alexandre Muller 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-3 in straight sets, made the third round. Meanwhile, Italian Jannik Sinner tossed his personalized Gucci bag over his shoulder and moseyed into the last sixteen of The Championships with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 win over France's Quentin Halys.
Rune's best Grand Slam result is reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, which he has done in 2022 and 2023, falling to Casper Ruud both times. He's aiming to at least replicate that on grass this year. Rune has grown up playing on clay and hardcourts.
"It's a beautiful surface," he said before adding, "sometimes it's beautiful to play on'.
The world No. 6 pegged his progress on the slick surface to his fitness trainer Lapo Becherini. "I worked a lot on the movement. Then for my mindset, it's really just been about playing the same game as I play on clay and hard courts," he said.
"On clay and hard courts, I trust my game, I come to the net. That's also what I've been trying to do here on grass, to play as similar as possible."
Rune, who won the title at Munich and made the final at Monte Carlo (Masters) and Rome (Masters) for his best results of the year, is pushing opponents deep behind the baseline and then pulling angles and drop shots. On a blazing hot day at SW19 it worked particularly well.
