Holger Rune has made some big moves recently as he looks to finish his 2025 season on a high note.
After Rune lost in the first round of Wimbledon to Chile’s Nicolas Jarry, he made the trip to Washington, where he trained with a true tennis legend.
Ahead of the Washington Open, Rune spent some time with Andre Agassi, receiving advice from the eight-time Grand Slam champion.
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He was, however, unable to participate in the tournament, as a back problem forced Rune to withdraw from Washington.
Healing up in time for the Canadian Open, Rune has now revealed what surprised him about Agassi when they worked together earlier this month.
Holger Rune was ‘surprised’ by the way Andre Agassi sees tennis
During an interview with Dutch media outlet Ziggo Sport, Rune was asked if Agassi did anything that surprised him in DC.
‘𝘙𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘢𝘮’ 🙏
Holger Rune deelt details over zijn trainingsblok met Andre Agassi en de aanstelling van fitnesscoach Marco Panichi 💬#ZiggoSport #atptour #NBO25 pic.twitter.com/qcbGmGMMmr— Ziggo Sport (@ZiggoSport) July 27, 2025
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“A few things I was surprised by, I was playing a practice set, we had new balls, and my opponent was serving, he was like ‘how much do you want to bet that he’s going to go wide now?’,” he said.
“I said, ‘I actually do not, because I think so too’, he did end up going wide, it’s interesting the way he sees the game, also the way he sees tiebreaks.
“I don’t want to tell everybody his secrets that he told me, but there were a few things where I was surprised by how he saw it.”
Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images
The Dane proceeded to explain what was ‘really nice’ about the time he spent with Agassi and described the American’s excitement for tennis as ‘spectacular’.
“It was a really nice experience to share the court with him for a couple of days in DC, and I learned a lot, in how he sees the game and how he sees my game, and how we can try to make tennis easier on my side of the court,” said Rune.
“He had some good tips about returning. He was an amazing returner, I’m a good returner, so we could share some info with each other, which was really nice.
“His excitement for tennis is spectacular. It’s really cool to speak to someone who is as into tennis as I am. I think that’s pretty rare.
“I feel like people always say when you’re off the court, you shouldn’t talk tennis, you should switch your mind off. I agree to a degree, but I also think it’s really important to share these thoughts that we players have in our minds.
“He’s an amazing listener first of all, and he’s very good at giving advice, so I was very pleased to share those days with him.”
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Rune then revealed one key piece of advice Agassi gave to him when they worked together.
“What he was trying to explain to me is that he wanted to make tennis slower on my side, and thought I could make things a lot easier with my power and my quality of shots; he felt that I didn’t need to do as much as I sometimes try to do,” he said.
“There’s always a balance, tennis is really strong these days, so you cannot leave the advantage to the other players, it’s a very fine balance.”
It remains to be seen if Rune can take Agassi’s advice on, but he’ll certainly be looking to make his presence felt in Canada.
Holger Rune’s route to the Canadian Open title
As the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have withdrawn from the Canadian Open, Rune will head to Toronto as the number five seed.
Top eight seeds for the 2025 Canadian Open
Searching for his second Masters 1000 title, Rune hasn’t been handed the easiest of draws, but will still be confident of a strong showing in Toronto.
- 2R – Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
- 3R – Alexandre Muller
- 4R – Daniil Medvedev
- QF – Alexander Zverev
- SF – Lorenzo Musetti
- F – Taylor Fritz
Rune could well have to beat Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Lorenzo Musetti, and Taylor Fritz back-to-back-to-back-to-back if he wants to win the 2025 Canadian Open.
It shouldn’t be forgotten, however, that en route to his maiden Masters 1000 title in Paris three years ago, Rune defeated five top-ten opponents, including Djokovic and then-world number one Alcaraz.
He certainly has the talent to win big titles, but won’t want to get too far ahead of himself as he first sets his sights on his second-round match, where he’ll play Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on Tuesday, July 29.