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'Holger Rune texted me. I told him, boy...': Wimbledon-winning Russian tennis star calls out Danish World No.9
Wimbledon 2025 doubles champion Veronika Kudermetova revealed that Holger Rune approached her, but had to be turned down given she is married.
Danish tennis star Holger Rune found himself on the wrong end of a slightly embarrassing but nonetheless harmful and funny story, as Russian WTA player Veronika Kudermetova revealed that the ATP talent tried sliding into her DMs on Instagram, only to be turned away by the fact that Kudermetova is happily married.
Speaking on former Russian player Elena Vesnina’s podcast, 2025 Wimbledon women’s doubles champion Kudermetova revealed that the Danish top 10 player is one player who approached her, but she had to let him down with grace, on the counts of having a partner and also being six years older than the men’s star.
“Rune recently texted me. I told him, ‘Boy, I’m probably too old for you. If you looked at my Instagram, you’d see I have a husband,’” revealed Kudermetova, who is currently ranked 42nd on the WTA tour, but has formerly been in the top 10. She is currently ranked fifth on the WTA tour in doubles after lifting the Wimbledon title alongside Elise Mertens, the first major title of her career.
Rune in midst of comeback trail
“He replied, ‘Oh, sorry.’ After that, he stopped saying hi to me,” revealed the Russian, who is currently participating in the National Bank Open in Montreal and is set to play Coco Gauff in the third round of that event. Rune, meanwhile, came through a tricky second round contest against big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi-Perricard in the men’s tournament taking place in Toronto.
Kudermetova is married to her long-time coach Sergei Demekhine, who has been part of her coaching staff since she was a teenager coming through the ranks in Russia. While she has had a solid singles career, she has had more success on the doubles court, including a statement win at Wimbledon this year.
Rune, meanwhile, is looking for more consistency to try and make that big step up from being a contender to being a serious champion on the men’s tour. After a breakthrough in 2022-23, Rune dropped out of the top 10, but marked his return earlier in 2025. The Dane will be eyeing up a deep run at the US Open, for which the Canadian Masters tournament is the first of a series of warm-up events.
