Holger Rune crashed out of the Shanghai Masters with a humiliating 6-2, 6-1 loss to US Open finalist Taylor Fritz. Despite positive performances against Matteo Berrettini and Jiri Lehecka in the previous rounds, it all unravelled in the last 16. It means that in his last nine events (masters events or Grand Slam) he has made the quarter-finals just once. Here on Last Word on Tennis, we analyse what is going wrong for the twenty-one year old, and how he can overcome it.
Holger Rune Struggles
A breakthrough 2022
By the end of 2022, the name Holger Rune was on everyone’s lips. This seemed to be a season which symbolised the changing of the guard. Rafael Nadal began to struggle physically after winning back to back Grand Slams, Carlos Alcaraz delivered his first of four Grand Slam titles with a victory over Casper Ruud, meanwhile the likes of Rune , Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger-Alliassime all saw career best seasons.
The Dane won his first title in Munich, defeating Alexander Zverev along the way 6-3, 6-2 in front of a bamboozled home crowd. He then reached the quarter-finals of Roland Garros, knocking out Stefanos Tsitsipas in the process. Both of these players have made the final in Paris.
Post Wimbledon he made two finals at the Sofia Open plus the Basel Open, and lifted another trophy in Stockholm. Yet, it was Paris where he made his name. The Dane beat none other than Novak Djokovic in the final, coming from a set down , 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
A lack of coaching stability
Since then though, it’s been a mixed journey. There have been flurries of excellence mixed with some really poor stuff at times.
The coaching situation hasn’t helped matters. On Rune’s run to a career high of world number four, Mouratoglou was in his camp. It seemed strange then to split ways.
Even stranger then, is it to split ways and re-unite on three occasions. The lack of certainty in Rune’s camp was pretty telling. His mother went as far to blame it due to a clash of ego’s. Either way, it wasn’t pretty.
Court Inconsistencies
Perhaps, it’s a lazy point to make, but the inconsistencies off the court have lead onto the court. This has been shown as recently in the past week.
The tennis on show to get past Lehecka and Berrettini was impressive and calculated. You felt as though he had made progress by playing with such maturity. Just a week ago he reached the final in Tokyo, and played a role in a magnificent final against fellow youngster Arthur Fils.
Against Taylor Fritz though, he threw in an all too familiar horror show performance. The American peppered it into his backhand all night, and looked miles ahead from a tactical point of view.
It’s not the first time this season. A first round US Open exit to Brandon Nakashima where he picked up just seven games, a similar straight sets opening loss to Jordon Thompson at Wimbledon, plus a 6-2, 6-0 defeat at the hands of Jan Lennard Struff in Munich.
It could be a sign of inexperience, when a game is going away from him he seems unable to wrestle it back. Tennis is unforgiving, particularly at the elite level, he must iron this out.
The Future Implications
It’s important to remember that Rune is still just twenty-one years old. He is obsessed with the sport and the talent is there. With the likes of Carlos Alcaraz normalising instant success, we must remember that for many others these can be years of growth and development. Look at how much Jannik Sinner has grown in the past year, he is two years in front development wise.
However, to say his journey has been smoother would be an understatement.
Either way, there is a major talent in Holger Rune, and should he find a formula to channel it, the tennis world will reap the benefits. It’s baby steps currently though, consistency must be the first aim.
Mian Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
