Rune: 'All kids should be able to go for their dreams'

Holger Rune is only 21, but fans have come to know the Dane quite well thanks to his on-court success. With a career-high PIF ATP Ranking of No. 4, four ATP Tour titles — including an ATP Masters 1000 trophy — and five more finals, Rune has performed on the biggest stages in tennis.

What fans might not know is that his young age has not prevented Rune from trying to make a difference off the court, too. Since his early days on the ATP Tour, the Gentofte native has dedicated himself to giving back.

“I always had the vision in my mind that everyone deserves a chance,” Rune told ATPTour.com. “I’m very privileged to feel that I had the opportunity and the chance to do what I wanted to do and what I love to do. I obviously had amazing parents. That helped, and still helps a lot. But I feel like with my platform, [I want to do] whatever I can do — give racquets, give tennis balls, give clothes, to the ones that are maybe having a tougher time, trying to live what they want to live.

“I believe all kids should definitely be able to go for their dreams. Whether they make it or not, I think they should all have a chance. So that's why I'm trying to give back as much as I can.”

Since he was a junior, Rune worked with his family to send racquets and clothing to various clubs in Africa to provide materials for those who otherwise could not afford them.

“I had tonnes of racquets at home, because I loved changing racquets when I was young, so I had way too many,” Rune said, cracking a laugh. “I thought instead of just leaving them in the basement or throwing them out — I had probably 40 or 50 amazing racquets, and also clothes that I grew out of some stuff — I thought, ‘Why not give it to the one who needs it?’

“We had the idea, and we got a contact from a guy living, I believe, in Barcelona, who had contacted to the people in Benin, actually, where we started sending [items] to and I still remember I had a Skype call, video call with them just before Christmas. They had posters with me on [them] and you could see all the racquets that I was sending, they were playing with them, and just to see the smile on the faces, which was so beautiful.”

Since then, Rune has supported various charity efforts to help children, particularly inspired by a chance meeting with a young boy in the hospital, where the Dane was while dealing with a wrist injury. In the past two years, Rune has helped Danish organization Børns vilkår, which includes a helpline for children in need. Before playing Daniil Medvedev in the BNP Paribas Open semi-finals, Rune was drawing attention to the cause.

“I’m supporting with money, and they can also ask me questions, if they want some of my experiences and stuff. I also played with some of them, actually, and I'm going to play with them,” Rune said. “For me, kids are very important because it's not been many years [since] I was a kid, so it's an easy connection. For me, it means a lot. I clearly remember when I was six, seven, eight years old, and that I had the support to play tennis. I had parents that helped me. I try to help as much as I can... Whatever I can do to support with, money or inspiration, I'm trying to do.”

Rune feels that players have the time and platform to give back and that it is important to do so when possible. He praised the likes of Felix Auger-Aliassime, the 2023 Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award recipient in the ATP Awards, for doing just that.

The 21-year-old thanked his mother, Aneke, and father, Anders, for teaching him about manners, respect and the importance of being a good role model for kids to look up to.

“Deep down, I play the sport for myself and to make myself happy and this is because what I love, but as I [like to] say, to inspire other people inspire kids to go for their dream,” Rune said. “I feel so privileged that I could do what I wanted to do. I think not every person can do that. And I think if you have a big dream, you should go for it. It sounds very simple, but sometimes it's not the easiest to do.

“But just go for it. If you fail, who cares, you can just try another thing and try again and again and again until you make it. I believe there are no superheroes or superhumans in this world. So if many ATP, WTA players can make it, I believe that people out there can make it as well.”