Denmark’s tennis star Holger Rune has revealed how former world number one Roger Federer helped him overcome Flavio Cobolli in the second round of the French Open. The world number 13 had an extremely tough outing in the round of 64 at the Roland Garros, where he eventually managed to stay alive miraculously as he was 5-0 down in the tiebreak of the fifth set to clinch the contest with a score of 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 3-6, 7-6 on Thursday.
Talking after the match, Rune explained that when the odds were stacked against him, he thought about how Federer managed to overcome Tennys Sandgren in the Australian Open a few years back. The legendary tennis star, despite facing fitness struggles, managed to overcome his opponent and booked a spot in the semifinal.
“All of a sudden, it came into my mind a match when Roger played Tennys Sandgren at the Australian Open,” said Rune. “He won in five-set match tiebreak as well, and Sandgren had many chances. It was kind of in my mind. I don’t know how it appeared, it just did. I just switched my brain off a little bit and just tried to go for my shots. Roger is always very relaxed when he’s playing. I told myself, okay, let’s try to relax. Then I started to hit my shots better, more freedom, got back on track.”