Holger Rune was very annoyed with his coach Lars Christensen during yesterday’s defeat against Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarter-final at Queens in London and seems to be struggling to find the right balance between staying calm and also to get pumped up at the right moments during a game.
There wasn’t much that worked in Holger Rune‘s favor in the quarter-final of the Queen’s tournament in London, which serves a s a warm-up tournament for Wimbledon which which starts 30 June.
The 22-year-old Dane lost 2-1 in sets (7-6, 6-7, 6-2) to Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut and never even had a single chance to break the Spaniard’s serve during the game.
A frustrated Rune therefore sought advice and guidance from his box, where Lars Christensen sat without an answer on a thoroughly bad day at the office for the Danish tennis star.
“What’s wrong with my forehand?, asked Holger Rune
“It’s okay”, Lars Christensen replied back.
“No, it’s not okay. I have made five unforced errors. What is it?”
“I don’t know”, Holger.
“Okay, so what are you here for?”, asked Rune annoyed.
Rune also vented his frustration at Lars Christensen with the words: “It’s not about you, its about me. Give me something, man”, said Rune
Towards the end of the match, Lars Christensen left the box.
Rune has had a host of coaches throughout his career with Lars Christensen, Patrick Mouratoglou, Kenneth Carlsen, Boris Becker and Severin Lüthi having had the responsibility of coaching the Dane at different times of his career.
Lars Christensen has a reputation of being an extremely calm coach but it seems clear that during times, when Rune seems to be struggling mentally, the Danish star needs somebody to pump him up, bring advice and someone who is a little bit more proactive from the box.
Rune will now see if he can get the balance right at Wimbledon, which will be the next big challenge for him in a week’s time.