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Journalism of Courage
Russian tennis player Anna Kalinskaya recently revealed in a recent conversation that world No. 11 Holger Rune had pinged her around 10 times, probably looking to ask her out but he gave up after there was no response from Kalinskaya. Rune responded to the comments, saying that he had simply commented on her Instagram story which she may had interpreted as ‘asking for a date’ due to their ‘cultural differences.’
“Tennis players more often before. Now I’m older, I don’t know. For some, it’s no chance at all. Someone wrote like 10 times and then gave up,” Kalinskaya had said in an interview recently about if she was asked out on a date pretty often.
The host then asked her if she could reveal a name to which Kalinskaya said, “Holger Rune. He writes to everyone. He deserves all this. He thinks too much of himself, or maybe he’s just too hopeless. But he’s not the only one.”
The comments caught Rune’s eye and he responded with, “Ha ha ha. We might have cultural differences that make Anna read a comment on a story as an invitation to a date. If I want to go on a date, I ask for a date. Don’t worry.”
Kalinskaya started her career at 17 and won the girl’s doubles titles in the 2016 French Open. Her best performance in a major slam was when she reached the quarterfinal of the 2024 Australian Open. This was also the year when she was ranked 11 in singles competition, the highest in her career. In 2025, she won the WTA 1000 Madrid Open doubles title with Sorana Cîrstea.
Denmark’s Rune, meanwhile, fell to Jan-Lennard Struff in the US Open second round earlier this month. He was also knocked out of Wimbledon in the first round while reaching Round 4 in the Australian Open as well as the French Open.
Rune was ranked No.4 at one point of time, the highest by any Dane player in history. He was also the finalist of the 2022 US Open but was defeated by Carlos Alcaraz.
