Holger Rune hopes he can elevate his game after receiving advice from his new mentor, Andre Agassi.
The Danish world No.8 was recently spotted having a hitting practice under the watchful eye of Agassi, who won 17 Masters 1000 and eight Grand Slam titles during his career. The collaboration aims to provide a sort of mentorship for Rune instead of a coach. Leading up to this week, the duo held a three-day training block.
“I reached out to him some months ago,” Rune told tennis.com. “He’s an amazing man, first of all, and he’s very wise, as well. He sees the game in a unique way that I’ve never experienced before.”
“I thought now was a good moment to reach out to Agassi because my base is back and I’m playing well again. When you’re changing coaches a lot, you don’t play as well because you’re not following one opinion or a single structure. I thought this was the right time to get some extra input…It’s not anything magic, but he obviously had some very wise words I can use.”
Rune is hoping to bounce back in North America after a disappointing grass-court swing. At Wimbledon, he suffered a shock first round loss to Chile’s Nicolas Jarry, who prevailed in five sets. He performed better at Queen’s with a run to the quarter-finals before losing to Roberto Bautista Agut. Overall, his win-loss record for the season currently stands at 22-14 and he has won one title in Barcelona.
As to why he approached Agassi, Rune explained that he had studied the American’s game via YouTube and wanted a view to coincide with that of his current coach, Lars Christensen.
“Right now, I’m No. 8 in the world, and anything that can help me get higher in the rankings, I’m happy to hear and listen,” he said.
“I obviously have big potential and I know I can do a lot better. He was trying to help me achieve that. We’re still in contact and everything, so those three days were a kind of beginning of feeling things out, him giving me some advice, and me trying to do it on the court to see how it feels. It was just very exciting to see his point of view.”
The 22-year-old has high aspirations for the future, and the hope is that Agassi will help him along the way. So far in his career, he has been ranked as high as fourth in the world and has won five ATP titles. His best results at the majors have been reaching the quarter-finals at the French Open twice and Wimbledon once.
“If you’re happy to stick around and be No. 5, 10, 15, or 20 in the world, some players can do that without doing more…My goal was always to be No. 1; it still is, and I believe I can do it,” he states.
“I also believe there’s a few things I need to do differently. That’s one of the reasons why I reached out to Andre, to hear his point of view.”
To reach the pinnacle of the sport, Rune needs to take on the dominance of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who have won the last seven Grand Slams between them.
“I think [the gap] is very distant for some, but for some others, they’re not that far away,” Rune commented. “I’m going to include myself when I say we’re not that far away. I see my high end of tennis to be really, really high, so I just have to lift the button, really, and stay more consistent to win more matches. I do need to stop feeling like I need to play spectacular tennis all the time to beat them.”
Rune is seeded third at this week’s Citi Open.
