Holger Rune blog: I cannot wait to compete for Denmark in Hopman Cup

Welcome to Holger Rune's blog. The 19-year-old is a former junior world No. 1, who was crowned Roland Garros boys' champion in 2019. In 2020 and 2021, he received ITF International Junior Player Grants, reflecting the level of his potential. He reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros in June 2022 and is now ranked in the world's Top 10. Holger writes regular pieces for the ITF, charting his journey.

I will be playing Hopman Cup – the ITF’s official mixed team competition – in July. I am really looking forward to it because it's great fun to play team events and pull on national colours to represent your country.

At the beginning of February, I played Davis Cup for Denmark in Hillerød against India and, especially as we won, there was a really amazing atmosphere generated by the home crowd.

Coming from a small country which does not host ATP tournaments, it's so nice to be able to feel that massive support that most players experience when playing homeland tournaments on Tour.

Returning to the calendar after not being played since 2019, Hopman Cup will this year be held in Nice, which is very close to where I live today, while it will be played in the middle of the European summer, from 19-23 July.

Normally a lot of Danish people visit the south of France during the summer months, so hopefully we will see plenty of Danish flags in Nice that week.

The venue for the event is the Nice Lawn Tennis Club and this is a club I know well. I have practised there a couple of times – it is a beautiful old club surrounded by classical French villas. It really is a Côte d'Azur postcard atmosphere.

I will be teaming up and competing for my nation alongside Clara Tauson. We have known each other since we were very small and, growing up, we have played at the same clubs in Denmark.

Despite not playing too much as a pair, we did once play mixed doubles together at under-12 level and won the National Championship. Even though it is some years ago now, we will for sure try to bring the wins again.

Another interesting feature of the event is that Hopman Cup will be played on clay in the week after The Championships at Wimbledon. Coming directly from the grass-court season and switching to clay right away can be tough and difficult to adapt to.

At the same time last year, I played an ATP event in Båstad, also on clay, and I remember it can be a little stressful when you're not feeling your strokes 100 per cent.

However, the fact that Hopman Cup is a team competition, with no ranking points on offer, makes it a brilliant event to play at this time of year with the emphasis on fun – and no stress – before getting on a hard court as the build up to the US Open continues.

Clara and I will compete against some good teams in Nice, including Spain, and for sure we will need to play our best tennis to win.

There is plenty of tennis to play beforehand but I honestly cannot wait for Hopman Cup and I am sure we will put on a good show for spectators.

I am very excited for this great week in Nice!