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Holger Rune’s girlfriend Caroline Donzella is by the Dane’s side during his debut campaign at the 2023 ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.
On Tuesday, November 14, Rune took on Stefanos Tsitsipas in what was their second match of the tournament. Both players were yet to register a win, having lost their openers to Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner, respectively.
The clash surprisingly ended after just 17 minutes of play though, with Stefanos Tsitsipas retiring due to a persistent back injury. Holger Rune was thus awarded his first-ever ATP Finals win with the score reading 2-1 (ret.).
Following the match, the Dane’s girlfriend Caroline Donzella, who has been spotted at the Pala Alpitour during his matches, professed her love for him on social media. She shared an affectionate picture of them holding hands in the car on their way back from the tournament venue.
“Love you @holgerrune,” she wrote on her Instagram story, adding a heart emoji.
Donzella, an Italian-Dutch real estate agent residing in Monaco, has been dating Holger Rune since the middle of this year. She was first spotted with the tennis player during the 2023 Wimbledon Championships. A month later, Rune made their relationship official by sharing a glimpse of their off days in Monaco, where the couple was seen holding hands.
Holger Rune defends Stefanos Tsitsipas after the latter's mid-match retirement at the 2023 ATP Finals
Stefanos Tsitsipas received immense backlash from the tennis world for his mid-match retirement against Holger Rune. Several fans opined that the Greek, who had struggled with a back injury throughout the week, should have pulled out of the encounter before taking the court.
That would have given the tournament's first alternate Hubert Hurkacz a fair chance of making his mark at the event.
Holger Rune, however, disagreed with the fans and defended Tsitsipas:
“We are not in Stefanos’ body. So we cannot comment on what he should have done,” the Dane said on X (formerly Twitter).
Rune noted that all eight players, who rightfully earned their place in the ATP Finals, were ready to pull out all the stops to make the most of the opportunity.
“We are here to fight and win. No one here in the top 8 is a quitter and we will try to the end. If we only thought rationally, we wouldn't be where we are today,” he said.
Following his win over Tsitsipas, Rune now stands a chance at making the knockout stages. It is worth noting that none of the three players from the Green Group, who are still in contention for the title, has booked their spot in the semifinals.
Their final round-robin matches on Thursday, November 16, where Djokovic takes on Hurkacz and Sinner takes on Rune, will thus be crucial.
“What an exciting Thursday coming up everything can happen #NittoATPFinals,” Rune said about the upcoming match-ups.
