It was the last Tuesday in August 2021, and a frustrated world number one Novak Djokovic left the court at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. This is despite the fact that he has won his first-round match at the US Open with relative ease.

What surprised the Serb was that the audience had bowed to him, without him understanding why.

Djokovic will accept his explanation. It was the audience’s excitement about the indescribable and fearless opponent he had misunderstood. Across the field was an 18-year-old Dane with the surname Rune.

Shouted loudly enough by many enthusiastic New Yorkers from the stands, the Dane’s last name emerged as buing.

Tom Petty is said to have had a very similar experience when he and his Heartbreakers warmed up for Bruce Springsteen, but that’s a very different story.

However, Djokovic must now prepare for more such experiences.

Not only from Holger Rune who is now 19 years old, but also from Norway with a fairly similar surname, Casper Ruud.

Norway takes the first step

Because it’s about something as sensational as the Scandinavian duo who are on their way to taking the absolute pinnacle of tennis in the world – but definitely without it happening through anything resembling goodwill or cooperation along the way.

Everything so far suggests otherwise that we can reflect on the years of Danish-Norwegian rivalry, on a level that moves between attractiveness and immediate discomfort. Everyone knows that the history of Nordic tennis will be written this Wednesday night in Paris.

The last controversial evening of the game was the quarter-finals pitting the first semifinalists Norway or Denmark at Roland-Garros. It is Norway that can cheer up.

At least many followed the drama from the living room in their home country. The main character himself, Casper Ruud, is so irritated by the behavior of the Danish opponent that he can’t help but shake his head as his two opponents embarrassingly thank him for the match on the net.

“Leaving! Leaving! Leaving!”

For if the Danish prodigy impressed everyone with his varied and intense play, there wasn’t much excitement about the behavior between ball exchanges. Holger Rune complains, Holger Rune throws a racket, Holger Rune questions the referee’s uncontroversial decision, Holger Rune asks his mother to leave the stands.

He’s already legendary “Leaving! Leaving! Leaving!”– a tirade against the stands in the third set against Ruud ended with Aneke’s mother leaving the place for a good distance into the next set.

Even the sane and restrained Casper Ruud could not hide his annoyance at the Dane’s rough result.

As BT Denmark wrote right after the game:

“He’s a great tennis player, Holger Rune, but he still has a lot of work to do mentally and at least his level of maturity.”

The verdict couldn’t be clearer than his own countrymen.

But in many ways it is more of a promise than a judgment. Because herein lies the enormous opportunity for the sport of tennis in our neighboring country for many years to come.

Nothing will create greater interest and enthusiasm than the sporting hatred between the seemingly spoiled Danish comet and the more controlled, but visibly upset Norwegian world star.

The road is getting shorter and shorter

Watching the first Grand Slam bout between two Scandinavian youths gave associations to some of tennis’ most famous rivals, such as Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg or Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, but most importantly the legendary encounter between the fury of Sweden’s Björn Borg and the American spectacle of John McEnroe.

Both are truly excellent tennis players – but with very different appearances on the court. Where is the Swede called Is-Borg The New Yorker McEnroe became known for his seemingly unruly temperament, which transcended opponents, spectators, rackets and especially referees.

And audiences around the world love their diversity experience.

For Casper Ruud, with a semifinal spot at the Grand Slam tournament in Paris, he has taken the long-awaited final step in the accepted world elite. Victory remains, but the road to it is getting shorter. And one of the real obstacles ahead, if Ruud doesn’t take advantage of the golden opportunity that the 2022 French Open presents, is a Dane who for years has said he wasn’t happy until he was the best in the world. world.

Holger Rune played soccer until he started playing tennis at the age of 6, but stopped playing soccer, because he didn’t like the feeling of being dependent on others on a team.

“Other kids will be cops. Holger wants to be Roger Federer. Fair enough », as his mother Aneke Rune, a former dancer in Royal Ballet, told the TennisMajors website.

Since then, he’s been following her and following her closely. The same goes for coach Lars Christensen, who has been in charge of him since childhood. So close that it was they who had to bear the brunt when adversity finally came at this year’s French Open – and that was against a Norwegian.

Heirs to the throne

It is Sweden who has become the undisputed king of Scandinavian tennis. From Björn Borg through Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg to the newer Robin Söderling and more. But in recent years, the development of a rising star in Swedish tennis has come to a complete halt. In contrast, there are much smaller neighborhoods in Norway and Denmark that have managed to produce the next world stars, through very dedicated and purposeful efforts.

In quite an extraordinary fashion, Norway was a finalist in the doubles tournament and, so far, a semifinalist in the men’s singles tournament. And this is in one of the sports in the world with the steepest pyramid to the absolute top of the world.

But where Casper Ruud along the way almost frustrates us with his blatant sanity, we now get it in perspective. In the next few years, hopefully we will from time to time experience the tennis star we as Norwegians imagine, when she may be involved in a number of intense duels with a Danish shooting star who is currently very disrespectful.

As in life and the world of sport otherwise, the answer is not given. We’ve experienced it with Petter Northug. We experienced it with Henrik Kristoffersen. We got it with a slightly opposite sign to Casper Ruud and his Danish partner. These polarizing stars regardless of preference never fail to engage.

In addition, the new Spanish giants Carlos Alcaraz, who at the age of 19 passed Ruud in the world rankings and several with him will have a say in the battle for the most coveted title, the day Djokovic mentioned, along with Nadal. and long-term injury Roger Federer finally relinquished his great dominance in men’s tennis.

Currently, Norway has the advantage over Denmark. Wednesday is an important day for Denmark. Earlier in the evening, the country had held a referendum on its defense reservation in the EU.

People are saying yes by a clear margin this time around.

We all left feeling that the Holger Rune, no matter what it was, would choose no.