'Desperate' tennis star Holger Rune outed by Jannik Sinner's ex-girlfriend hits back at claims he was pestering her for a date

Holger Rune has fired back at fellow tennis star Anna Kalinskaya's claim that he asked her out '10 times' in a 'desperate' attempt to get her attention - saying she misinterpreted messages to her due to their 'cultural differences.'

Kalinskaya, who has previously dated Nick Kyrgios and Jannik Sinner, went viral earlier this week when she claimed in an interview that Rune had incessantly invited her on a date.

However, after the clip from the First&Red podcast spread across social media, Rune responded on X and denied the Russian's version of events.

'Ha ha ha. We might have cultural differences that make Anna read a comment on a story as an invitation to a date,' the Danish player said. 'If I want to go for a date, I ask for a date. Don't worry.'

Kalinskaya was speaking on her love life on First&Red when host Anna Chakvetadze asked if she often received advances from tennis players.

'More often before, now I'm older, I don't know. For some it's just no chance at all,' she said before specifically naming Rune. 

'Someone wrote like 10 times and then gave up,' she continued. 'I'll say who it is now, Holger Rune. 

'He writes to everyone. He deserves all of this, thinks too much of himself. Maybe he's just that hopeless, but he's not the only one [to have messaged me].'

The claim from Kalinskaya came after another female tennis player recently alleged that Rune asked her out. 

Veronika Kudermetova, another Russian tennis player, said in a podcast interview with her countrywoman Elena Vesnina that Rune also pursued her.

Kudermetova, 28, has been married since 2017.

'I told him, 'Boy, I'm probably too old for you,' she said of Rune, 22.

'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.'

While it is believed that Kalinskaya rekindled her relationship with businessman Tomas Ferrari, she spoke about the pressures of dating another tennis player.

'As much as possible. I tried and my partner also tried. But it's hard to avoid when two people are famous and there are difficulties because of that too. It's impossible to just go out on the street or go out for dinner calmly. Every time you'll think twice whether to go somewhere or not.'

She was linked with Kyrgios in 2020 and made her romance with Sinner public last year, as they shared a kiss after his US Open triumph. Sinner later confirmed he was single this spring.

Kalinskaya also rejected suggestions that agents influence a player's personal life, adding: 'Agents do not have nothing to do with relationships. Work is work, personal life is personal life. Off court it's different, no one decides for us.' 

While she didn't name her current partner, she confirmed that he was not an athlete and worked in finance.

And Ferrari has been spotted courtside at several tournaments this season, including Madrid, Indian Wells and Miami.

Kalinskaya lost in the third round of the US Open to Iga Swiatek, as she fell to the Pole in straight sets at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

World No. 11 Rune, meanwhile, lost in the second round to qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff in a five-set thriller.