The 21-year-old Danish tennis star showed great maturity and patience during his four-set victory over the Italian Matteo Berrettini at the Australian Open on Thursday morning.
Patience was clearly part of his tactical plan against the hard-serving Italian. And Rune also took extra time between points to preserve his mental focus during the tough match against Berettini.
"I think a lot about the fact that these are matches over five sets. You can't go in thinking it's going to be a quick fight. It's a marathon, not a sprint", said Rune after his win to Danish "Kanal 5".
"I try to use more time between points to breathe, because momentum can change quickly. If I had suddenly lost the fourth set, I might have used all my mental energy before the fifth set."
The Dane was very satisfied with his game in the 7-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 victory over the 28-year-old Berettini whose serve is always tough to break.
"I think I raised the level enormously from my first match here", said Rune referring to the five-set victory in the first round against Zhizhen Zhang.
In the third round Rune will be up against the 25-year-old Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, who is number 51 in the world while Rune is number 13.
They have met twice before, with one win each. Both matches were in 2023. According to Rune, he must find a way past a player who does not have many weak sides to his game.
"He has a good forehand and a good backhand. In general, he doesn't really have any weaknesses", said Holger Rune to Kanal 5.
Kecmanovic surprisingly won in the second round over the 18th-seeded Pole, Hubert Hurkacz. The winner of Kecmanovic and Rune could potentially bump into the top-seeded Jannik Sinner in the fourth round.
Sinner will face the American Marcos Giron in the third round.