ROLEX PARIS MASTERS

November 4, 2022

Holger Rune

Press Conference

H. RUNE/C. Alcaraz

6-3, 6-6 [Ret.]

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. For a first tournament here in Paris, quite a result, even if the end of the match is obviously not what you wanted.

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, yeah, I would say an unfortunate end for the match, and for him, of course.

But I think it was a great match, especially from my side. From the beginning till the end I really was sticking to the game plan, playing super aggressive, trying to take every chance I got. I'm super happy how I managed everything.

Q. How does it feel beating the No. 1?

HOLGER RUNE: It feels great. It's the first time that I beat World No. 1. You know, to beat Carlos is obviously special. You know, he's the same age as me, and what he's been doing, especially this year, is incredible. It feels very good. But at the same time, I'm super excited for tomorrow already.

Q. How surprised were you? Did you notice anything before Carlos actually came and said he couldn't continue? If so, when did you notice anything?

HOLGER RUNE: I actually didn't notice anything. I was surprised about the medical timeout. I didn't expect he was going to take it. The first serve that he served in the tiebreak was pretty good, I would say. He made a great serve on the T. Obviously the last serve he served was much slower than usual.

But, no, I didn't notice anything. But of course I'm not in his body. If he feels something, for sure he feels something.

Yeah, but I just tried to mainly focus on myself, be in my own world.

Q. What's the biggest help, the biggest difference that you have with Mouratoglou, the work you did together in the last month?

HOLGER RUNE: I think most of all we are having very good time both on and off the court. Me, my old-time coach Lars, my mom, Patrick, we have a great time, a lot of fun, good hard work. It's just super nice to have people behind me that is supporting me since long time. Even Patrick, I know him since I was super young. We have a good relationship and it's super nice to have him by my side also.

Q. What are your thoughts going into the semifinals and that match?

HOLGER RUNE: Yeah, it's going to be exciting. Obviously I played him last week in the final of Basel. For my side, there is a lot I can take from that match and learn and try to do better tomorrow.

He is serving very good at the moment, so it's really tough to break him. But I'm going to try to do small changes that I didn't do last time to see if I can stress him a bit more. Mainly just go out there and have fun.