Rising Star Holger Rune Seizes Opportunity to Shine After Tsitsipas Abandons Match

“Of course it’s very, very unfortunate for people… but it’s good for my legs.” With these few words slipped into a press conference, smirking, a few minutes after the abandonment of Stefanos Tsitsipas on Tuesday, Holger Rune highlighted a paradox which could serve him well. If it is never pleasant for a tennis player to take advantage of the misfortunes of another, this shortened second group match gives very interesting prospects to the Dane. For his first Masters, he has the opportunity to approach his decisive duel for qualification for the last four against Jannik Sinner and he will not complain about it.

Ambition is innate for him and his tennis in recent weeks gives him the right to nurture more of it. His back injury behind him, he turned the page on months of doubts thanks to a few victories snatched in Basel then at the Rolex Paris Masters. And the natural confidence he has in him has grown at great speed, allowing him to tickle Novak Djokovic twice in ten days, the Serbian each time winning in three sets in the quarter-final at Bercy, then in the first group match in Turin. Seeing him leave the Pala Alpitour court disappointed like everything last Sunday, there is no doubt: Rune always imagines himself a winner, even against the number 1 of the number 1s in the history of the game.

Holger, I like his aggression, I was aggressive myself

To regain this anger which had abandoned him a little in recent times, he was able to count on one man, his new coach Boris Becker. The latter recognizes himself in the young Dane, as if he instinctively knew which strings to pull psychologically. “Holger, I like his aggressiveness. I was an aggressive player myself, he recently explained in L’Equipe Magazine. I also like the way he expresses himself on the court, it “He’s a real fighter, a hothead. He tries the impossible sometimes. And then, there’s his visceral passion for the game. No one needs to ask him to train. It’s easier for a coach . To be very good, you also have to be a little crazy, you know.”

The pain was too strong: the images of Tsitsipas’ abandonment in the face of Rune

It is indeed difficult to doubt the involvement of the German, six times Grand Slam winner during his time of splendor. In the stands, he constantly looks for his new foal’s gaze, even going so far as to get up regularly, as if to experience the match with him.

“Perhaps it’s to get the blood circulating in his legs better, you know,” Rune laughed in front of the journalists. “No, I think that when he wants to coach, he gets up naturally. He can better express what he wants to say like that. I think that’s the reason, I didn’t ask him. When I worked with Patrick (Mouratoglou, Editor’s note), he also did it a lot. I think it’s just a question of personality, it’s a question of character, some do it, some don’t. But I like the way my ‘box’ behaves.”

This communicative energy has undeniably played a key role in the recent recovery of Rune. As if even before the offseason and a regenerative break, the young Dane had found inspiration. Physically, he certainly still has difficulty going the distance and Djokovic took full advantage of it. But mentally, he seems fresh again, as evidenced by his ability to stay in the fight with the boss of the circuit despite losing the first round at Bercy as well as in Turin. He was also eager to rub shoulders with the Serbian again after having left his crown at the Rolex Paris Masters.

Communicative energy and a shared obsession with winning

“I love this association, because Holger feels like a star of the game and he needs to have someone by his side who makes him feel like he knows how he feels,” observes our consultant and former champion Spanish Alex Corretja. And Boris Becker feels the same way, that’s for sure. He was a superstar and still is. When Holger talks about his expectations, i.e. winning Majors or becoming number 1 in the world to Boris who was and who has already been a huge coach, he is an asset. He understands him and he will not consider him as someone pretentious or arrogant.”

And in the end, it’s Djokovic who wins again

Between volcanic champions, we understand each other. And this even if “Boom Boom” the player did not have the same tennis qualities as his new protégé. With his enormous first ball and his attraction to the serve and volley, it is difficult to see similarities with Rune and his tactical science from the baseline. But what interests Becker is not necessarily to revolutionize the game of his nugget, but to polish this ambitious character which is so familiar to him.

“I know how to win. My strategy boils down to finding the way that will bring my player to victory. If that involves long baseline rallies, like with Novak Djokovic, it will be baseline rallies. If that involves to come to the net, then we will go to the net. It doesn’t matter how you play as long as you play to win. That’s my state of mind, and the players appreciate it. I’m never satisfied with a place in the final. I am never satisfied with a number 2 place. The players see this ambition and this energy in me,” the German confided to L’Equipe Magazine.

And that’s good, because facing Jannik Sinner and a furious Italian public, character and energy will be needed on Thursday evening. In Monte-Carlo, against the same opponent already well supported by his fans, Rune had found the answer. Winner in Masters 1000 and slayer of king “Nole”, Sinner has since taken on another dimension, but the Dane also has a trump card up his sleeve. “In every training session, he has Boris Becker who tells him things that are new for him, insists Corretja. And that could well give him a feeling of extra power. We must not underestimate Holger, he is not afraid It was nothing.”

2023-11-15 23:33:00
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