Holger Rune’s rise has slowed down dramatically in the last year and a half. When he won the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 in 2022, fans and insiders thought that the Dane would win so many important titles and compete for the Grand Slam tournaments against Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
Rune has not respected the predictions about him until this moment, his growth has stalled and never found the right continuity. Holger has also had many physical problems in recent months and has changed several coaches witnessing some confusion. The Dane failed to shine at the French Open and the Wimbledon Championships, while he was forced to miss the Paris Olympics due to an injury. The 2022 Paris-Bercy champion has announced that he has again separated from Patrick Mouratoglou, waiting to know who will be his coach for the rest of the season.
The feeling is that Holger needs to find the right serenity to be able to express his best tennis again and surround himself with the right team to improve on and off the court. The Dane has been clearly outperformed by Spaniard Alcaraz and Italian Sinner, but he has plenty of time to narrow the gap and prove that he is a true champion.
Rune’s not having a good time
According to some insiders, the poor results achieved by Holger Rune in recent months would have repercussions even outside the court.
“We talked to some insiders and it looks like Holger Rune has closed with Nike. Looking for a new sponsor to potentially debut at the US Open.” The website Tennis Connected, through a tweet, spoke of a possible break between Holger Rune and the well-known multinational company also mentioning that the Dane could even make his debut in the last Slam of the season with a new sponsor. As in the past, Rune has intervened directly on social media to clarify the issue.
According to Rune, there is no problem and the response to Tennis Connected leaves no room for interpretation. ” I don’t know who these insiders are, but I can tell you that they’re not very good at their job. I am very happy with my collaboration with Nike,” Rune wrote.
Don’t know who these insiders are 😂 but they are not very good at their job I can tell you that . I am very happy with my Nike collaboration 😎
— Holger Rune (@holgerrune2003) August 9, 2024
Rune has just announced that Patrick Mouratoglou will no longer be his coach. ” He will always be a great friend, but for now the best solution is to continue with Kenneth (refers to Carlsen, ed) who will be present at all training sessions and tournaments. Nothing will change in my relationship with the academy, which has always been of great help to me“.
Huge coach Mouratoglou dedicated a beautiful message to Rune: “Holger and I have decided to part ways. This decision was reached mutually, as we believe Holger would benefit from a different approach in his setup right now. He is an exceptional player with immense potential and a strong character. It has been a privilege to work with him, and I have no doubt that he will continue to achieve great success in his career. I will remain his biggest supporter. The Mouratoglou team remains fully operational and committed to help him grow. Wishing Holger all the best in his future endeavors.”
The Dane is struggling
Holger will have to do much better in the second part of the season, getting a good result already at the US Open at the end of August. Rune is still very young, but its growth must resume quickly to avoid losing too much land. Young talents like Ben Shelton and Lorenzo Musetti have made a big leap this year, while the Dane has stopped.
In the latest episode of her podcast, Rennae Stubbs commented on Rune’s current status: “His talent level is through the roof but the forehand’s a little funk and he just needs to learn how to play tennis better. I feel like he’s lost a little bit on the court. He doesn’t really have these great game-plans out there. What are your strengths? What do you play to? He’s young and he’s athletic, but I feel like he doesn’t really know what his go-to stuff is. Like what’s your go-to stuff that you can rely on every single point over and over and over?”
The US Open will be the next big goal for all players, the last chance to win a Slam in 2024. The Dane will not be among the favorites in New York due to his recent results, but less pressure on his shoulders could help him. The favourites will be 2024 Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner, 4-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev.