Russian tennis player Anna Kalinkaya shared a light-hearted moment recently, revealing she had ignored ten messages from Denmark’s Holger Rune.
In an interview with First & Red Channel, Kalinkaya mentioned that Rune was one of the “few” players who reached out to her, but she was too caught up in her own thoughts. “It’s just how it goes as a tennis player,” said the 26-year-old, who previously dated Italy’s Jannik Sinner. “I guess I’m at a different stage now. Some people might not see it as a missed opportunity at all. I mean, if someone has tried so many times and given up…”
Rune, currently ranked 11th in the world, seemed amused by Kalinkaya’s comments, responding on Twitter, “Hahaha. There may be a cultural difference in how Anna interprets this as me asking for a date. If you’re interested, just say so! Don’t worry about it.”
This past Tuesday, a clip of the interview went viral, amassing around a million views.
Kalinkaya added, “I think Holger Rune just writes to everyone. He really puts himself out there.”
Notably, Rune has faced speculation about sliding into the DMs of fellow players before.
Veronika Kudermetova, another Russian player, recently commented on similar interactions, mentioning that Rune had texted her as well. “I told him, ‘I might be too old for this.’ He just replied, ‘Oh, sorry,’ and hasn’t really reached out since,” said Kudermetova, who has been married since 2017.
The tennis world continues to watch these interactions unfold, as several relationships and playful exchanges seem to surface among players.
