Stefanos Tsitsipas lost to Holger Rune for the fourth time (Image: Getty)
had a hilarious message for after upsetting the No. 8 seed in Indian Wells. The 21-year-old has now won all four matches he’s played against the Greek star. Those in the ATP locker room have an unusual term for rivals who lose three matches in a row to a specific player.
And Rune brought out the fighting talk following his 6-4 6-4 victory over Tsitsipas, explaining that the result means “you become his dad”. The ‘daddy’ tag has been a talking point on the tour this season. However, Rune must avoid having another colleague become his “dad” this week.
Back in January, opened up on one of the locker room secrets. “We say on tour if someone beats you three times in a row, they’re your daddy,” the world No. 12 said during the .
Other players have since started to open up on the unusual monicker, including Rune. The Dane had a 3-0 record against Tsitsipas before they met in the round of 16 in Indian Wells, meaning he was already Tsitsipas’ “daddy”.
But Rune took things a step further, winning their fourth match on Tuesday to truly cement his status. The world No. 13 was caught retweeting a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), which branded him the “daddy” in their head-to-head.
During an appearance on Tennis Channel, Rune was also asked to explain what it meant to beat a player at least three times. “So what people say is that, once you beat someone three times in a row, you become his dad,” he laughed.
Holger Rune is through to the quarter-final in Indian Wells (Image: Getty)
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Rune may now colloquially be known as Tsitsipas’ father, but he is at risk of allowing another player to become his dad. The four-time title winner will face Tallon Griekspoor in Thursday’s quarter-final, and he is currently 0-2 in their head-to-head.
“It’s kind of silly to say, and hopefully I’ll try not to make Griekspoor my dad on Thursday,” he continued. “There’s a lot of fathers on tour!”
Although Rune had beaten Tsitsipas in their first three meetings, he was the underdog when they met in Indian Wells. The 21-year-old has struggled for form of late and missed some tournaments through illness.
Meanwhile, Tsitsipas was on a seven-match winning streak after lifting the title in Dubai last month. He also recently re-entered the top 10.
But Rune . “I stayed very committed to my game plan and again, mentally, I was very, very good,” he said on court.
“I think that’s what made the difference in how composed I could stay because obviously Stef is back in shape, I think it’s fair to say, and it was a cool battle.”
Rune is now “looking forward” to the chance to get some revenge against Griekspoor. He added: “Tallon is really in shape right now, he’s been playing great, I saw the match against Zverev. He’s going for it so that’s always a dangerous player to play against.”