Danish Angel - Holger Rune Talk

Jelenafan

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When he was a junior he attended a tournament and came second loosing the finals 6-4 6-7 7-6 and he refused to accept the silvermedal. Because he was so mad about loosing. He had a terrible temper but also an incredible workethics.
Everybody loves to win but great champs die a little every time they lose a match.

Chris Evert once said “ The top players just hate to lose. I think that’s the difference. A champion hates to lose even more than she loves to win.”
 

rafanoy1992

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I finally have some time on watching some Rune's highlights and analyze his game. I will make some points here:

Things I love from his game: Serve ( and +1 FH shot), Backhand (all forms) and variety (meaning going to the net often, slices and just being unpredictable). All these three things are special shots that will make Rune a special player in the future. Once all three things are clicking at the same time, he is very hard to beat in a match.

The shot that "worries" me just a little bit: His Forehand. I will say this: His FH is not a bad shot per say meaning, he has a lot of variety on that wing. He can use it to get back to neutral during rallies, it is a good defense shot and he can use the FH slice once in a while. However, when Rune wants to be consistently aggressive from that wing, it is hard for him to sustain it. And most of the time, he hits his FH short, so his opponents attack it, just like we saw from Alcaraz the other day. I am curious to see moving forward if his FH "Flaws" are more technical or strategic (mental if you want to describe it like that).

The other parts that naturally will get better when he gets older and more mature: Physical stamina (obviously), Double Faults (as he gets wiser, he will be more wary when to hit big 2nd serves), match awareness and balancing being aggressive/defensive and playing cat and mouse game.

I just want to explain quickly my last other parts point: While it is good that Rune can use his variety at any point of the match, I think he needs to be aware that variety is a great tool use once in a while or as a surprise attack and not use it consistently. Once he starts to realize that, he will be an even better player!
 

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I really want Holger in the off season to work on the (already fine) serve even more, an amped up serve can compensate for alot. At his young age, there is still hope that serve can get noticeably better.

At this point IMO Rune’s a top 3 or 4 backhand, its that good. That BH has both power and variety, with the DTL a thing of beauty.
 

rafanoy1992

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I really want Holger in the off season to work on the (already fine) serve even more, an amped up serve can compensate for alot. At his young age, there is still hope that serve can get noticeably better.

At this point IMO Rune’s a top 3 or 4 backhand, its that good. That BH has both power and variety, with the DTL a thing of beauty.
I would say, improving his match stamina will probably be his priority this upcoming off-season especially now that he is getting deeper in most tournaments.

I agree with about his BH in all shape and forms. I kinda wished he uses it more as an aggressive shot more-so than his FH during the rallies.
 

Jelenafan

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I would say, improving his match stamina will probably be his priority this upcoming off-season especially now that he is getting deeper in most tournaments.

I agree with about his BH in all shape and forms. I kinda wished he uses it more as an aggressive shot more-so than his FH during the rallies.
Personally i think the stamina issue is overstated with Rune because he came out noticeably flatfooted with Ruud in the FO QF after the 5 set slugfest with Cerrundulo. Though to his credit he extended it eventually to 4 sets before succumbing.

Was stamina an issue in the QF at Wimbledon? I didnt think so, and his 4th round win over Dimitrov after a tough 5 setter versus Fokina again physically there didnt seem to be any issues. Its a very small subset because as of now Rune is 1 for 2 after 5 set matches. Not much data there.

Though In general most young players have an overall issue with stamina, or maybe we can say a problem with pacing themselves. Tsitsipas ran out of gas in his ‘21 FO final when he was just 22, ditto the previous years SF when he was just 21.
 

rafanoy1992

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Personally i think the stamina issue is overstated with Rune because he came out noticeably flatfooted with Ruud in the FO QF after the 5 set slugfest with Cerrundulo. Though to his credit he extended it eventually to 4 sets before succumbing.

Was stamina an issue in the QF at Wimbledon? I didnt think so, and his 4th round win over Dimitrov after a tough 5 setter versus Fokina again physically there didnt seem to be any issues. Its a very small subset because as of now Rune is 1 for 2 after 5 set matches. Not much data there.

Though In general most young players have an overall issue with stamina, or maybe we can say a problem with pacing themselves. Tsitsipas ran out of gas in his ‘21 FO final when he was just 22, ditto the previous years SF when he was just 21.
To be fair also, I think Rune stated he didn’t feel 100% physically before the Alcaraz match that’s he seemed flat on Sets 2&3.

Overall, while I think it is overstated about his physical stamina, it is still something he needs to improve on, in my opinion especially now he is going deep in most of the tournaments, which is a great thing to have a problem.
 

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rafanoy1992

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I am hoping that Rune's back issues/spasms wont affect him too much for the US Open. Obviously, he will play at the US Open (unless his back issues become worse, hopefully not), but I do wonder on how effective he will be at the tournament. Back spasms are tricky to deal with and it can trigger at any time.
 

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I am hoping that Rune's back issues/spasms wont affect him too much for the US Open. Obviously, he will play at the US Open (unless his back issues become worse, hopefully not), but I do wonder on how effective he will be at the tournament. Back spasms are tricky to deal with and it can trigger at any time.
Yes he has had problems with his back since before Wimbledon. It's disturbing..
 

Jelenafan

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Holgerites, the Danish Angel is getting treatments for his back spasms so let us hope the valiant Viking can play near full strength at the USO.
A few days ago:

Short update. Small improvements on the back pain. Scan, X-ray, treatment and excellent team work between doctors in New York and Monaco and my team making me sure that I will be ready for practice on Monday. Grateful for everyone taking action
1f64f-1f3fd.svg

Little Holger, our prayers are with you!

IMG_6642.jpeg
 
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Holgerites, the Danish Angel is getting treatments for his back spasms so let us hope the valiant Viking can play near full strength at the USO.
A few days ago:



Little Holger, our prayers are with you!

View attachment 8685
Good to see he’s trying acupuncture.

Holger is great for the game. He’s a player made for Flushing Meadows. Hopefully the treatments work!
 

Jelenafan

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Obviously the Norwegian tennis federation & their blood oil money had a hand in this shameless scheduling:


THe Danish Angel & # 4seed relegated to Court 5 ? Let the heavens rage in indignation.

IMG_6822.jpeg
 

Fiero425

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Obviously the Norwegian tennis federation & their blood oil money had a hand in this shameless scheduling:


The Danish Angel & # 4seed relegated to Court 5 ? Let the heavens rage in indignation.

I'm not that put off he's complaining, but we didn't have to know it! All it's going to do is give him bad "Diva" 'Rep.' which began a while back! :face-with-head-bandage:
 
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Kieran

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Obviously the Norwegian tennis federation & their blood oil money had a hand in this shameless scheduling:


THe Danish Angel & # 4seed relegated to Court 5 ? Let the heavens rage in indignation.

View attachment 8694
I think he should suck it up. Says there it’s a fan favourite court. Chance for him to make some friends!
 

lomaha

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Obviously the Norwegian tennis federation & their blood oil money had a hand in this shameless scheduling:


THe Danish Angel & # 4seed relegated to Court 5 ? Let the heavens rage in indignation.

View attachment 8694
It's really too bad that noone seems to get the danish humour. Holger is not complaining - he just made a joke about it!
And Ruud is on court 17...
 

Kieran

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It's really too bad that noone seems to get the danish humour. Holger is not complaining - he just made a joke about it!
And Ruud is on court 17...
Ah okay, thanks! Me being a typical kid I only read the headline and the comments..

:lol6::lulz1:
 

Jelenafan

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It's really too bad that noone seems to get the danish humour. Holger is not complaining - he just made a joke about it!
And Ruud is on court 17...
Preach.

I find that with what I think are clearly my tongue in cheek over the top Rune fandom posts
 

rafanoy1992

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It is offcial: Holger Rune has split with his coach Patrick Mouratoglu. I am curious to see in whom Rune will hire as his next coach.

Like I have stated before, while Rune is only 20 years old, it is important for him to have a coach that can take him to the next level.
 
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nehmeth

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It is offcial: Holger Rune has split with his coach Patrick Mouratoglu. I am curious to see in whom Rune will hire as his next coach.

Like I have stated before, while Rune is only 20 years old, it is important for him to have a coach that can take him to the next level.
Would you be surprised if he said he was going to go it alone for a while? I wouldn’t be. Hopefully he will choose someone who can help develop his game as well as encouraging him to step up and grow up. (imo)
 
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