August Holmgren Interview At Nordic Open

By Nicholas Albek

ATP no. 167 August Holmgren from Denmark is playing the ATP BNP Paribas Nordic Open in Stockholm, Sweden this week. The 26 year old who turned pro in 2022 and has a 7-4 ATP match record, did this interesting interview with Danish journalist Nicholas Albek this week…

Full interview can be read at this link

Human Side of August Holmgren: “I strive to be someone you can trust.”

“I’d describe myself as someone who seeks what makes me happy. I try to stand by my values and believe I’m a good person. At the core, it’s about behaving properly. It’s also really important to me to give ball kids and volunteers a positive experience. Smiling and saying thank you helps a lot. It also calms me when I need a bit of peace.”

“It reminds me to keep my behaviour in check, even when I’m frustrated. I don’t always succeed—sometimes I shout or throw my racket—but I try my best to be a good role model. I want to be someone people can rely on.”

Teenage Life as a Tennis Pro: “I didn’t miss out on anything.”

“My teenage years were awesome. I travelled a lot and saw so much of the world. I built many friendships through tennis, which gave me a different experience than many of my schoolmates.”

“I chose tennis and travel over the typical social scene, but tennis provided me with its own social circle, especially since we had a good group travelling together. I never felt like I was missing out.”

“Players often talk about sacrifices, but I never felt like I gave anything up. On the contrary, tennis is what made me social. The downside is that during breaks or vacations, I don’t maintain my social relationships well. I’ve been terrible at calling friends or hanging out with them. Honestly, I don’t even like vacations—they make me feel lonely. But I see that as a positive thing because it pushes me to keep working and playing more. It was a fun teenage period for me.”

On Facing Loneliness: “It’s something I take seriously.”

“I’ve struggled with loneliness, and it’s something I take very seriously. When I started playing college tennis, I found I couldn’t travel alone to tournaments—it was too miserable. Last year, I had a rough week in Egypt where I was completely alone.”

“But that’s part of being a tennis player—sometimes you have to travel solo. So, I’ve had to learn how to cope. I started taking the initiative to have dinner with other players or play cards with them, just to form a group wherever I went.”

“Since then, I haven’t felt lonely at any tournament, whether I’m alone or with Danish players or coaches. I’ve gotten better at seeking out social interactions.”

Why He Chose San Diego: “I wasn’t good enough for the pros at 18.”

“I decided to play college tennis in San Diego because I wasn’t good enough to turn professional when I was 18.”

“College coaches are great at reaching out to highly ranked juniors. Most messaged me on Facebook, and then it’s about figuring out where you want to go.”

“I spoke with around 30 schools, but I really liked San Diego after talking to them. When I visited the campus, I just knew that was where I wanted to be.”

Changing Ambitions: “Being the best didn’t work for me.”

“My ambitions have changed over the years. Four years ago, we had mental coaches come to Gentofte, and we worked on defining my dream. What’s the purpose of having a dream as an athlete?”

“The idea is that a dream should motivate you to put in the necessary work every day. But the dream of being the best didn’t really work for me.”

“When you refer to something from 2014, I was 16 then, just ranked No. 1 in my age group in Denmark. I remember winning the youth championship at 16—it was amazing—but two days later, it didn’t matter to me anymore. That’s been the same every time I’ve reached a new ranking.”

“It’s great at the moment, but it doesn’t hold much weight afterward. I’ve experienced that many times.”

“So, I had to find a new motivation. I started thinking about what actually makes me happy about tennis. Why do I play? I’ve worked on different ideas, focusing on challenging myself to improve and inspiring others, because I want to be an inspiration.”

“This past year, I’ve realised my dream is simply to play tennis because it’s insanely fun. It’s a bit basic, but just enjoying the game itself. The hard work, the discipline with diet, that’s what leads to the joy, shame, anger, and ecstasy that makes tennis so exciting.”

“To love tennis… My dream is to keep playing because I love it. I know it might sound weak—many top pros say it’s not enough just to love what you do—but that’s what has worked for me, so I’ll keep working hard.”

“I’ve modelled my game after Chris Eubanks, but things have changed.”

“Chris Eubanks is a player I’ve watched closely. A year and a half ago, I started working with my coaches to model my identity as a player after him.”

“We were defining the type of player I wanted to be. The coolest thing about Chris is that he plays without compromise. We focused particularly on his return game—the way he just goes all in on it. Sure, there might be games where he misses everything, but then he’ll have that one game where it all clicks, and suddenly his opponent gets shaky because they can’t predict what’s coming.”

“I’ve tried to play that way, and it’s worked really well for me. It was all about using his style as inspiration. But lately, I’ve noticed he’s become more passive on his returns, and I’ve drifted away from watching him.”

“Now, it feels like he’s slicing almost every backhand return, whereas he used to hit through them more. I don’t know if that’s why he hasn’t won as much, or if it’s just that the competition is so tough. But I do feel like he’s more passive now than before.”

(Holmgren played Nordic Open qualies and defeated Alexander Ritschard in the first round 76 64 but then lost to Thiago Tirante in second round 26 36.)

August Holmgren wears Uomo Sport attire.

ATP · August Holmgren · Denmark · Nordic Open

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