There are few coincidences in life and the world of tennis does not escape this reality either. Holger Rune is proving in his still short but spectacular and already very prolific career that he and Paris have a real affair. And it is that among other things, the 19-year-old Dane has been training for some time at the prestigious Patrick Mouratoglou academy in the south of France. I practically feel the Gallic soil as his home and that has been reflected in the results on the track. After the incredible achievement of the title in the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 ante Novak Djokovic, the director of the academy where he trains, Patrick Mouratoglou himself, has analyzed in a press conference what has been the great final that has catapulted him to definitive stardom. He throws out the keys that for him have defined the comeback of the Nordic and outlines what he can give of himself in the future as well as details of his training at the academy in Nice.
Control of emotions, an essential part of victory
“He had been having a lot of ups and downs in recent months. He had a moment of being very high at Roland Garros, after being very low in the summer with nine consecutive losses and now he has recovered again. He has found things that have been helping him : The first one is that he has learned to control his emotions, that has been really important. It is what has allowed him to have been able to win today’s game. Because he was very close to losing it. Despite losing serve in the first set, he didn’t lose his composure, he didn’t panic or anything like that, he stayed focused, Holger had tremendous mental abilities before, before being able to control his emotions.
Now he is much more emotionally stable during the game. When you find yourself in a 0-40 situation and you manage to get out of it unscathed, it’s a very commendable thing. Because he is not a very tall player, his tennis is based on being well structured unlike other players. He structures and builds the points much better now. They are skills that he already had in January, but they are much easier to put into practice and make them work when you have a good winning streak behind you. “
The mental challenge of overcoming someone like Novak Djokovic
“Playing a final against Novak Djokovic is probably the most difficult challenge that you can face in the world of tennis. The only way to approach such a commitment is by very clearly outlining a game plan and then of course having a great control of the emotions that arise in the different moments of the match. Holger has been able to find answers in almost every moment. That is why he has ended up winning. But in reality it is not possible to teach anyone how to beat Novak Djokovic. You have to have something special, something extra, and Holger certainly does.
His mental capacity is what caught my attention the most when he arrived at my academy at the age of 14. Not so much with his shots, he didn’t stand out for any shot in particular, being like he was one of the best of his generation. But his mentality, his iron determination, his self-confidence, that’s what really struck me about Holger. He has always had a champion mentality, an impactful personality that is really what sets him apart.”
The horizon that is presented to Rune for 2023
“He has been playing incredible tennis for several weeks, there is a lot of enthusiasm in that sense of course. But the reality is that I think he can improve and progress, quite a bit. There are elements where we find a lot of room for improvement. We will work on that when it is definitely over. the season. Right now he’s already in the top-10, but that’s not really his ambition. It’s a nice thing but Holger’s ambition is much higher than that. We don’t know if we’ve seen the best tennis he can offer. It’s much higher than a time without a doubt, but the bar must be raised as well. And begin to establish as something normal and as the standard a level of tennis like the one he has shown today.”
