The girlfriends of tennis stars are often accused of being a distraction to their men on court and this familiar narrative has surrounded Danish wonder kid Holger Rune in recent months.
Rune made a sparkling breakthrough at the top of the men’s game this time last year, as he found a sparkling run of form that saw him beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final of the ATP 250 tournament in Stockholm and back that up with a run to the final in
He then secured the biggest title of his career to date as he beat Carlos Alcaraz and then Novak Djokovic to seal his first ATP 1000 title in Paris, catapulting him into the top ten of the world rankings.
Rune’s power-packed and high-risk game singled him out as a real threat to the game’s top stars, but he has struggled to maintain those remarkably high standards in 2023.
That dip in fortunes should not come as a surprise for a 20-year-old who is still getting used to life as a top ten star, with his disappointing form in recent months a predictable story for such a young player.
Since reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals in July, Rune has won just one match in his last six tournaments, with first round defeats coming at an alarming rate.
If Rune continues that trend in the final events of 2023, he will slip out of the top ten of the ATP rankings, as he has a lot of points to defend from his blistering end to last season.
Yet life has changed for Rune in the last year and that may explain why he is taking time to adjust to his new normal, with girlfriend Caroline Donzella also now a key part of his life.
This is not the first high-profile relationship for Donzella, as she also dated Italian soccer international Andrea Petagna.
Now she has started a relationship with Rune, who has already won almost $6million in his fledgling tennis career.
Rune was beaten in his first match in this week’s Nordic Open and he was asked whether his girlfriend is a factor in his dip in form.
“The results are nobody’s fault. It’s my fault. It has absolutely nothing to do with her,” Rune said in a video posted on Expressen.
“Caroline is not to blame. That is only my responsibility. People only want to look for external factors and blame others, but only I am responsible”
The suggestion that a new girlfriend could be a distraction for a tennis player is not a new angle for the media to follow, with Stefanos Tsitsipas faced with similar questions after he started a high-profile relationship with fellow tennis player Paula Badosa.
Happiness off the court should be a recipe for success on it and it is clear that Rune is aiming to get his results back on track quickly after he made a high-profile change to his backroom team for the final tournaments of 2023, with three-time former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker installed as his coach.
Becker, who has previously worked with Novak Djokovic and is returning to tennis after serving a jail sentence in England for tax fraud, is relishing the chance to work with Rune.
“I can confirm that I am Holger Rune’s coach,” Becker exclusively told Eurosport Germany’s podcast.
“It makes me a little proud that he asked me. The contact has existed for a long time. Now it was a very good fit.
“My calendar allows it and I have always been interested in Holger because he is on the tennis court with so much commitment and temperament.
“Holger then invited me to a training week in Monte-Carlo. I also had a long chat there with his mother Aneke and his performance coach Lapo Becherini. The three of us are responsible for Holger from now on. Unfortunately, I can’t be at the tournament in Stockholm this week because of previously arranged appointments.
“But I will be there in Basel at the latest, and afterwards, I will play Paris-Bercy with Holger – and hopefully help him to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin. That is the big goal and that is the task.”
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