{"id":67503,"date":"2024-05-23T15:08:06","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T19:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=67503"},"modified":"2024-05-24T15:25:47","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T19:25:47","slug":"lets-talk-about-rune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2024\/05\/23\/lets-talk-about-rune\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s Talk About Rune"},"content":{"rendered":"

Holger Rune comes into the 2024 French Open<\/a> as World no. 13, following a rocky start to a year marred by inconsistent results, illness, and a dizzying ride around the coaching carousel. Can Roland Garros turn it around? <\/p>\n

It was always going to be a challenge for the 21-year-old Rune to better his 2023 results, which saw him rise to a career-high World no. 4. But despite a rocky start to his season, there have been flashes of brilliance from the fast-twitch, explosive (and sometimes polarizing) bundle of energy that is Rune.<\/p>\n

Going into the first major of the year with his coaching team in turmoil, Rune posted an unsurprising \u201csurprise\u201d loss in the second round of the Australian Open<\/a> to teenage wild card and then-world no. 122 Arthur Cazaux of France.<\/p>\n

At Roland Garros, Rune should be looking to right the ship, equaling or bettering his 2023 results, where he reached the quarterfinals, losing to eventual finalist Casper Ruud.<\/p>\n

An Uneven 2024 Clay Season<\/h4>\n

After a spectacular 2023 clay season, Rune\u2019s 2024 clay season seemed to be heading in the right direction, with a quarterfinal showing at the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters. In the third round, he played what was arguably one of the best matches so far of the 2024 clay swing<\/a>, defeating an in-form Grigor Dimitrov in a three-set thriller. After losing in the 2024 Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinal match against Sinner<\/a>, Rune failed to reach the final like he did in 2023, posting back-to-back wins over Sinner and Medvedev.<\/p>\n

Monte Carlo was followed by a trip to the semifinal in Munich and in Madrid, a third-round loss to Talon Griekspoor. Rune later revealed that he\u2019d been battling illness for a few weeks and he re-surfaced at the Rome Masters eager to defend or better the points he\u2019d earned as a finalist there in 2023, when he beat Rudd and Djokovic in dramatic fashion<\/a> en route to the final.<\/p>\n

In an ATP interview during the Rome Masters<\/a>, Rune said his long-term goal is to win Grand Slams but in the short-term he wants to get back to a great level of tennis. By all accounts, he\u2019s in a re-building phase, looking to improve his mindset and gain further clarity on his game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI go by my emotions and mindset,\u201d he said. \u201cFigure out your game, keep improving, and look for the extra gear and things you can do to surprise your opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Rune’s clay season has been off-kilter, he seems to be in good company, with no player on men’s side distancing himself from the pack<\/a> ahead of Roland Garros.<\/p>\n

Pressure and criticism on Rune<\/h4>\n

Tennis commentators and the tennis-watching public are impatient and often fickle. One of the great highs in tennis is seeing a young player catapult into the stratosphere.<\/p>\n

Often, exceedingly talented young players like Rune are under constant pressure and criticism. \u00a0(Some may forget that after turning pro in 2020 at just 16, Rune finished 2021 ranked 103 and by the end of the next year he was in the Top 10–a meteoric rise by any standard.)<\/p>\n

But improvement isn\u2019t always a straight line. It\u2019s more like a corkscrew–going up, circling round, and perhaps heading downward again. If you\u2019re lucky, your skills will improve and you\u2019ll be on the rise again. The corkscrew isn\u2019t sexy. It doesn\u2019t grab headlines, though it can certainly mess with your head. Conventional wisdom says that a player who believes in and trusts the process will see their way through.<\/p>\n

Add to that the scrutiny that these young players are subjected to. Despite claiming they want big personalities, fans don’t always have patience for players who dance to the beat of a different drum. When someone edgy arrives, their every move is dissected and they\u2019re criticized for coloring outside the lines.<\/p>\n

Sadly, Rune\u2019s sometimes petulant antics–some might say immaturity–have overshadowed his impressive results. It\u2019s easy to forget how young these players are, but it’s worth repeating: Rune is barely out of his teens.<\/p>\n

Rune has also taken a lot of flack due to the involvement of his mother, Aneke Rune. Parents in the box is an ongoing talking point in tennis (just ask Stefanos Tsitsipas<\/a>), but in the case of Aneke Rune, there\u2019s also a whiff of misogyny. The same kind of chatter swirled around Judy Murray<\/a>, a steady presence in Andy\u2019s box. But as a former pro tennis player herself, even critics conceded that Judy had something concrete to offer where tennis was concerned. Given that Aneke Rune isn\u2019t a former pro, is ever-present and was Holger’s press manager (he signed with IMG in February of this year), opened the floodgates to criticism.<\/p>\n

But while Aneke Rune lacks formal tennis training, she does have a deep understanding of her son. By all accounts, the Runes are close-knit family and Aneke Rune is very tuned into the emotional well-being of Holger. She makes little effort to blend into the background, or hide her desire to ensure he\u2019s working with coaches and trainers who have his best interests at heart.<\/p>\n

Which leads directly to Rune\u2019s most pressing challenge: finding stability and the best mix in his coaching box.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>