Holger Rune has remained in high spirits despite being knocked out of the Australian Open in the fourth round by Jannik Sinner.
Sinner won an 18th consecutive Grand Slam hard court match with his success over Rune, during which he suffered physically.
ATP number one Sinner took a medical time out during the clash at Rod Laver Arena, having been left shaken by the 32-degree celsius Melbourne heat.
Rune was also feeling the heat during his battle against the Italian, who won 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 after three hours and 13 minutes.
Two-time Grand Slam winner and Australian Open defending champion Sinner now takes on home favourite Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals.
And he has been sent a good luck message from his latest opponent ahead of that match, with Rune having taken to social media after losing to Sinner.
READ MORE: Jannik Sinner explains what was ‘very strange’ before his fourth round win at the Australian Open as he praises tournament
“Mentally a super challenging match for both of us,” the Dane wrote on X. “I will take a lot of learning with me from today and continue the good work. Best of luck the rest of the way Jannik Sinner.”
Despite the heat, the top seed fired 14 aces and 35 winners compared to Rune’s five and 31 respectively, with a superb win first serve percentage of 83% recorded along with a fastest serve of 209km/h.
Very similar scenes have taken place between Carlos Alcaraz and Jack Draper, with the latter having retired hurt from their fourth round match.
The Spaniard was winning 7-5, 6-1 at Rod Laver Arena when the British number one called time on the match due to injury.
READ MORE: Carlos Alcaraz says what he finds ‘unbelievable’ about Novak Djokovic ahead of their Australian Open quarter-final
Draper was quick to wish the victor well in Melbourne, writing on Instagram: “After missing a lot of time on court this last month I came to Melbourne with limited expectations.
“Not the way I wanted to go out yesterday but I’m proud of the fact I gave everything I had! Thank you Australian Open and good luck Carlos Alcaraz for the rest of the tournament.”
Alcaraz says Draper can return to his best soon, with the Spanish star doubling down on that belief with his comment on the post: “Head up man, you’re a fighter.”
The four-time Grand Slam champion now turns his focus to Novak Djokovic, with Rod Laver Arena playing host to their highly-anticipated quarter-final meeting.
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