MIAMI OPEN
Once a Prodigy, Now a Circus: Holger Rune is Slowly Fading Away
How did it come to this, Rune?
Holger Rune, 20, struck a regretful tone citing illness in his post-match press conference to the Danish media, following a chastening defeat in Miami where he got picked apart by Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan.
‘’I got sick the night before the match and considered withdrawing from the tournament,’’ Rune told TV2. “But when I felt better after the warm-up, I decided to try, but unfortunately I had no energy in my body.’’
There was little evidence to suggest in that monsoon Miami arena that as Holger Rune got battered in 59 minutes and 37 seconds, he had seemingly forgotten how to check his body temperature.
This was a sickly performance.
Rune’s loss to Fabian Marozsan, the giant slayer who demolished Carlos Alcaraz in the Italian Open, capped off a rocky start to the year (currently 13–6 on the season), leaving the ATP’s World No. 7 glancing worryingly over his shoulder.
Just over 100 points ahead of the resurging Casper Ruud in eighth, Holger Rune does not look as if he can keep up with his peers, let alone, overtake them. His spot is up for grabs, his camp has seen more shakeup in the last four months than his ranking has in a year, and his reputation has taken a smacking.
Danish top-seed Rune played a shockingly embarrassing game at this year's ATP Masters 1000 in Miami, affording the Hungarian Marozsan to inflict his worst-ever defeat on the ATP Tour, 6-1, 6-1.
The warning signs were glaringly obvious as Rune made a double fault in his first service game of the match, swiftly conceding two break points which Marozsan converted. The Hungarian never looked back, harnessing Miami's stormy elements.
Given that since Wimbledon, Rune lost 10 of his 11 matches playing through illness or injury, it is inconceivable to imagine how he planned to improve that record in Miami.
Like in other major sports, players consult with their camps or, in team sports, with medical staff to ensure their physical conditions are fitting enough for optimum performances.
Mouratoglou's thoughts on Rune playing again through discomfort are unclear but with this duo, things are never always as they seem. His frosty relationship with the Dane — whom as recently as this January thought he was not the right fit for him — has been well documented in the past.
This latest episode of sycophancy will do little to quell the rumors.
To passionate fans and those who wish him well, there is an acceptance that the trajectory of Rune's career has significantly stalled over the past 12 months. He remains without an ATP title since his last triumph in Munich (April 2023), and there is a growing feeling that he could be fading away.
Slowly.
Rune was once the teeming prodigy who, one after the other, dismantled the best tennis players in the world, including 24-time Grand Slam tournament winner Novak Djokovic, whom he stunned in Paris.
But there is a cruel joke that tennis plays and Rune will know this better than anyone.
In 2022, he was the 19-year-old poster boy of retribution whose sensational upset of the 'Greek God' Stefanos Tsitsipas — then the ATP’s World No. 4 — sent seismic shock waves across the iconic clay Court Philippe-Chatrier in his debut Grand Slam tournament at Roland Garros.
“Victory belongs to the most tenacious... and Rune personified that phrase,’’ an official report sizzling with praise later said.
It's been nearly two years since that glorious moment and it would be remiss to claim Rune is incapable of so much more. In fleeting moments, he can thrill the crowd with audacious skills and tactical intelligence, offering a slight insight into the player he could become with the right oversight.
As Mouratoglou found out before Boris Becker, Rune is incredibly talented with great potential to become the world's best tennis player (no jokes). And yet, he is capable of coughing up such stark levels of mediocrity never seen before in Miami.
Holger Rune has survived the last of the hard courts and finally, faces a comely return back home to the posh French Riviera Monte Carlo. The Danish top seed might not know it yet but having explored other courts without success — none whatsoever — even him will admit that like his childhood idol Rafael Nadal, he lights the fireworks on clay.
Should Rune turn this flailing career into something remarkable, by no means, it will be one of the greatest comeback stories in modern tennis. Should he not, the name Holger Rune will be just another, forever condemned to the ash heap of bygone history.
Drawing inspiration from the famous comebacks of his doubles partner, Caroline Wozniacki would certainly be a great place to start.
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