A frustrated Holger Rune believes he will never discover his full potential unless he comes up with a way to reach his best form on the Tour after getting knocked out of the French Open.
The Danish world No.10 was beaten 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, by Lorenzo Musetti in the fourth round on Sunday evening. Musetti is one of the most in-form players on the clay this season, having reached the final in Monte Carlo, followed by the semi-finals in both Madrid and Rome.
Meanwhile, Rune has experienced a roller-coaster clay swing coming into Paris after retiring from his opening match at two tournaments and more recently losing in the third round of the Italian Open. However, he illustrated his potential at the Barcelona Open where he defeated Carlos Alcaraz to win the title.
“There’s not really much to be happy about,” Rune said after his loss to Musetti.
“I don’t think my backhand is good enough, and my serve. I hit the ball wrong – it’s physics.
“I haven’t really been able to train throughout the clay season, so physically I was very unsure of where I was. And I don’t think I was good enough there. I wasn’t quick enough on my feet. But my backhand and serve were really bad.”
Despite his success on the ATP Tour, Rune has struggled against the top players at Grand Slam events so far in his career. He has only beaten a top 10 player once at a major event out of 11 meetings. That sole victory was over Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2022 French Open. In comparison, he has recorded 19 wins over top 10 players at non-Grand Slam events.
When asked if his five-set win over Quentin Halys before facing Musetti had an impact on his latest performance, the 22-year-old played down that suggestion.
“I don’t think it’s because I drop sets every now and then. It also happens to other players who are at the top. It can happen, you can’t avoid it,” he said.
“I just have to get better physically.
“The only thing I’m surprised about is that I trained so much physically leading up to Australia (Australian Open) and there was a bit of the same problem when I met Sinner. I also died there.
“I’ll never see what my potential is if I don’t get my physical form up to 100 percent. So I hope I do,” he added.
Due to his concerns, Rune says a plan is already underway to help him improve for the future.
“We’re talking to some people right now, some physical trainers. Something will definitely happen in the next few weeks,” Rune explained.
Rune now heads to the grass swing with his first tournament scheduled to be at Queen’s later this month.
