“What are they teaching Holger Rune at Patrick Mouratoglou's academy?" - Fans poke fun at Dane's unusual approach to drinking water at Madrid Open

Tennis fans on the internet recently poked fun at Holger Rune for his unusual approach to drinking water at the 2024 Madrid Open.

Rune crashed out of the Masters 1000 tournament with a disappointing 4-6, 6-4, 3-6 loss to 24th seed Tallon Griekspoor in the third round on Sunday, April 28. The match lasted two hours and 14 minutes before the Dutchman came out on top to reach the fourth round of a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time in his career.

More than the loss in Madrid, however, the Dane's way of drinking water has notably created more buzz on the X (formerly Twitter) as he was seen gulping down while covering the entire opening of the bottle with his mouth.

Fans found the manner amusing as one of them took a dig at Patrick Mouratoglou's academy, writing:

"What are they teaching him [Holger Rune] at Patrick’s academy??"

Another fan wrote:

"He's so no thoughts head empty"

Here are a few more reactions from X:

"Helps keep his big mouth running," a fan stated.

"This is the most Holger thing ever," a fan tweeted.

"I think, he just was thinking a lot of what to do next......he did drink like that without thinking about it, his mind was somewhere else," a fan noted.

"Tennis players are fascinating. They should be studied in labs," a fan commented.

"That’s how I drink when I have a lipstick on that I don’t want to ruin. Idk if that’s Holgie’s case tho but I’m not judging," a fan wrote.

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"The plan was of course to be here" - Holger Rune on not celebrating his 21st birthday during Madrid Open

Holger Rune

Holger Rune talked to the Danish media house TV2 following his exit from the 2024 Madrid Open on Sunday, April 28. During the chat, he accepted that he lacked on the court, saying:

"It is of course frustrating when I can't find my game at all. I can't lie about that. It is very clear that I have not played optimally, so I have to get back on track."

The loss to Tallon Griekspoor notably came a day before Rune's 21st birthday i.e., April 29, hence there was an unwanted change of plan regarding the celebrations.

"I am going back to Denmark and celebrate with the family. The plan was of course to be here, but that's how it is. I have to go back and have a good time with the family," he added.

Interestingly, Holger Rune once celebrated his birthday on the court. It happened during the 2022 Bavarian International Tennis Championships when Rune downed Emil Rusuuvuori in the quarterfinals on April 29.

The tournament director brought Rune a cake after the match as the latter was joined by his mother Aneke. He went on to notably win the tournament that year.