Holger Rune seemed destined to become a great champion in a short time. When the young Dane won the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 in 2022 – beating 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the final – it looked like his rise would be disruptive. Holger also scored some good results the following year, reaching the final in the Masters 1000 of Monte Carlo and Rome without being able to win (he lost to Andrey Rublev in Monte Carlo and against Daniil Medvedev in Rome).
Since then, a sharp and sudden decline has begun. Rune lost his confidence very quickly, changed teams several times and did not express his best tennis. Although still very young, the Dane is an unfinished player so far and his distance from top players has increased a lot in the last year and a half.
Holger seemed to be able to compete for the title against the two great ATP tour dominators – Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner – but the situation has changed radically. The Spanish ace has already won four Grand Slam titles and five Masters 1000, while the Italian champion has won two Majors and three Masters 1000.
Nicolas Mahut on Rune
Rune continues to be confident in his means and has just reached the quarterfinals in Tokyo, but further clues are needed to see if the worst period is definitely over. The Danish ace has the right weapons to become one of the best players in the world, but he must grow mentally and become more tactically brilliant.
In a recent interview with Eurosport, Nicolas Mahut opened up on the current World No.14: “Rune will not be satisfied until he wins a Grand Slam. I think it is completely inhabited by that. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ever gets one. Obviously he is not as strong as Sinner and Alcaraz, but there will be more room than during the golden generation with Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray. There will be opportunities and I think he will be one of those players who can take advantage of them.”
Holger can do well in this last part of the season, where there are tournaments that perfectly fit his aggressive and powerful style of play. Recently, the former Top 10 has taken it out on those who criticize him: “Sometimes the bumps on the road are painful and frustrating. But we all know there are no easy or fast way to fulfil our dreams.
Every experience is learning, that will make the foundation so strong that no one or nothing can break us in the end. I am not satisfied with my results, but still I have to remember I am 21, I am top 15 in the world , the highest ranked male ever in my county. So when media, “experts” and randoms call me shit, I take it as a bizarre compliment.
They are expecting more from me, and faster . I too love when everything moves in F1 speed towards the goal, but life is not always like that. To every young person or player out there losing in sports or feeling like a failure, be strong, it’s part of the road to success. A certain amount of darkness is needed to enjoy the daylight.”
A brilliant future
Rune had tried to rely on Severin Luthi – former coach of Roger Federer – and the German legend Boris Becker, but these collaborations were very quickly ended. He later returned to work with Patrick Mouratoglou without achieving the results hoped for until a new separation.
In a long interview with SpilXperten, Holger spoke about his professional relationship with Becker: “It wasn’t a mistake at all to hire Boris Becker. We agreed to try it out, and it worked super well. I came directly from a bad period, and he definitely helped me get back on track. I was a bit confused about the tweet he made, but there are no hard feelings. He was a fantastic player, one of the greatest legends in tennis. I definitely learned something from him.
It’s nice to have my mum with me. It’s always good to have family support, and my mom has followed me throughout my entire career, and she knows me really well. It’s always good, so it’s nice to have her with me. Kenneth is here too, so I feel really good. It’s been said many times that the difference between winning and losing a match is so small when you look at how few points separate players in a single match.” Rune will face Japanese veteran Kei Nishikori in Tokyo.
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