Holger Rune slams “fake news” social media accounts after Cincinnati Open victory

CINCINNATI, Ohio—Holger Rune became one of the first tennis players to return serve against a growing onslaught of “parody” social media accounts this summer, condemning deepfake screenshots masquerading as official Instagram stories and direct messages from mother Aneke as “fake info” on X late last month.

“Please do report accounts faking like this,” Rune wrote to fans at the time.

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Fresh off an opening-round win over Roman Safiullin. Rune elaborated on the issue at the Cincinnati Open on Saturday.

Obviously, it’s tough to control the whole internet! ... I think some posts where it looks too real even though it’s super fake, those are not nice. Holger Rune

“I like jokes, I like fun, all of this,” he clarified, “but sometimes it gets a bit too real in a way—even though it’s fake. That’s when I don’t think it’s necessary. Obviously, it’s tough to control the whole internet!”

While many of the posts are clearly absurd in their presentation, the sport has suffered from a growing trend of “plausible deepfakes” that mimic the style of a serious news post with a quote attributed to a player and accompanying image. Typically missing from these posts are a link to an original source—or a discernible punchline.

“I think some posts where it looks too real even though it’s super fake, those are not nice,” said Rune. “It’s a little bit provocative, as well, but I suppose everyone can do what they want.”

Rune has been making his own (real) headlines this summer since welcoming the mentorship of Andre Agassi, training with the former world No. 1 ahead of the US Open swing at the Mubadala Citi DC Open in July.

“We’ve been in touch,” Rune confirmed in Cincy. “We spoke after Toronto and he also messaged me today. It’s nice! We speak a little bit; he shares his view, I share my view. It’s nice to have someone to speak tennis with who is as into it as I am. I’ve been getting some really good feedback, which is always great.”

Rune will next face No. 28 seed Alex Michelsen in the third round of the Cincinnati Open on Monday.