Welcome to the latest instalment of Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune’s blog. The 17-year-old won a Junior Grand Slam title in 2019 and is focusing solely on professional tournaments from now on. Holger is writing regular pieces for the ITF and providing insight into his tennis journey. Follow his progress here.

I always set goals for the day, week, month and year. But as goals are often measured over a 12-month period, New Year is a good time to act and correct the things I was not satisfied with the year before.

I could not have had a better start to 2021 and during the first week of January I went to the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in France. My pre-season focus in Denmark was mainly physical practice for three weeks, so I was seriously hungry – like a wolf – for tennis.

I had some fantastic sessions there with Daniil Medvedev and Felix Auger-Aliassime. I only had one practice before with Medvedev at the 2019 ATP Finals in London and, except for watching most of his matches, I didn’t really know him that well.

We had really good energy on court, and it’s so clear that he loves the game. Tennis is an entertaining sport and while we all are super serious, enjoying what we love is so important. 

It was fun and at the same time Medvedev is so focused on his work and has a great team around him, so it was very inspiring for me to be a part of.

It was also a big inspiration training with Felix, which is something I have not done before. Because he is only three years older than me, I can mirror myself in another way than when hitting with Novak Djokovic, for instance.

One of my goals this year is to put more effort into my matches. This is about constantly working at a certain level and keeping extra focus on certain strokes, like service and first ball, and not letting up at any stage – something Medvedev is great at.

I saw some statistics recently on a player e-mail from the ITF which showed my win-loss percentage in 2020. I know there were times I did not put maximum effort into matches last year, so it was no surprise that I wasn’t satisfied with the figure.

However, I was really upset with myself when I saw those numbers in the e-mail. It’s too sloppy and I know I should have done better in about 10 matches.

I have been through them all again in my head and that 65 per cent win ratio should have been around 80, so a major goal for 2021 is to raise my statistics so they match my actual level of tennis.

I am currently playing my first tournament of the season – M15 Manacor – at Rafa Nadal’s Academy in Mallorca. What better place to put into practice an increase in effort than Nadal’s hometown?

Moving forwards, I feel it’s important for me to take the next step and contest ATP Challenger events. I have already won M15 and M25 tournaments last year so the natural progression would be to enter Challengers.

The cut is still very high due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, but hopefully I can enter qualifying soon. This is another aim for 2021, I want to win Challengers and take my first steps at ATP tournaments.

After the tournament in Manacor I go back to France to play another M15 in Bressuire, where the level will again be high, although that will allow me to work on my percentages and focus on not letting matches that I am capable of winning slip away.

Speaking of France, I am flirting with the idea of learning French this year. I was not sure whether I should mention this in my blog because when I say things out loud, it’s a commitment and, for me, a serious matter.

This led me to think about how easy it is for me to say that this year I want to win Challengers. I can say it aloud because I know how much I want it and how much I am willing to do to achieve this goal. It’s an energy from inside, a passion.

I cannot say the same about learning to speak French, therefore I am a little afraid about sharing the goal of being able to speak French within a year. Let’s say that it’s an idea at this stage.

In the end, it comes down to how much I want it. It is so easy for people to tell their parents and friends that they want to become a tennis player, a rock star or a millionaire, but honestly how much do they want it? How much time and effort are they willing to put in to achieving their goals? Do they have the passion to go through both heaven and hell to achieve them?

I think we often forget to ask ourselves these important questions. We will never become good at anything if we do not put in the effort and it’s worth remembering this before we put dreams into action.

It’s so much easier to chase your dreams and goals if you love the process and love what you do. As I say, that’s why I have no concerns about saying I want to win Challengers this year because I love the process and have the passion to make that happen.

It looks like France will be a theme this year as a dream of mine is to play the main draw at Roland Garros. It is a dream I have had for some time now, while it will always be a special tournament to me because of my Junior Grand Slam win in Paris in 2019.

These are a few of my aims for 2021 and the process is underway to make these dreams a reality!