World No. 9 Holger Rune was allegedly turned down by married tennis star Veronika Kudermetova after she claimed he had texted her. Kudermetova, 28, claims the 22-year-old Dane now doesn’t talk to her after she told him that she was ‘too old’ for him and is married.
Rune, a dominant force on the ITF Junior Circuit as a teenager, announced himself to the ATP Tour in 2022 and pulled off the biggest win of his young career at the Paris Masters, where he prevailed past both Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. At 22, he is still a budding talent on tour, but he has now been accused of sending a text to a fellow female player.
Appearing on Russian former No. 1-ranked doubles player Elena Vesnina’s podcast, Kudermetova alleged that Rune privately reached out to her and now avoids saying hello to her at tournaments after she brushed off his text message and informed him she was married.
“Rune recently texted me,” she began. “I told him, ‘Boy, I’m probably too old for you. If you looked at my Instagram, you’d see I have a husband.’ He replied, ‘Oh, sorry.’ Since then, he doesn’t even say hello to me anymore.”
Kudermetova is married to Sergei Demekhine, who is 41, 13 years older than his spouse. Demekhine also acts as Kudermetova’s coach and aided her to her doubles success at SW19 earlier this month alongside Elise Mertens.
In 2023, Rune confirmed via Instagram that he was dating Caroline Donzella, a half-Dutch, half-Italian high-end real estate agent based in Monte Carlo. Donzella was first spotted supporting Rune at Wimbledon two years ago, and while he initially referred to her as a ‘friend,’ it seemed as though a romance blossomed.
However, it is unclear whether the two are still dating. It is not suggested that Rune was dating anyone when he allegedly reached out to Kudermetova. Rune’s representatives have been contacted for comment.
Both the Dane and Kudermetova are in action at the Canadian Open this week. Rune beat a big server in Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round and will next play another Frenchman, Alexandre Muller.
Kudermetova, on the other hand, has impressed so far, fighting back in the opening round to defeat Cristina Bucsa and then sweeping past Olga Danilovic in straight sets.
She’ll face an incredibly difficult test in No. 1 seed Coco Gauff on Thursday evening, who bounced back from her early Wimbledon exit by beating Danielle Collins on Tuesday. Still, the Russian will take note of the American’s service troubles.
Gauff overcame 23 double faults during her victory against Collins, and while this may bode well for Kudermetova, Gauff has insisted she will come back stronger in the next round.
“It was a frustrating match for me,” said Gauff. “I felt like I was practising well and then I don’t think I transferred it today, but hopefully I got my bad match of the tournament out of the way and I can come back stronger.”