"He sees the game in a unique way": Holger Rune opens up about reason behind working with Andre Agassi ahead of DC Open

Denmark’s Holger Rune's talent has been admired by those working in the tennis world, but his results have been far from consistent. This year, Rune has featured in 36 matches, winning 22 and suffering 14 defeats. His most recent defeat came in the first round of Wimbledon, where he came second-best against Chile’s Nicolas Jarry in a five-set thriller.

During the contest, at one stage, Rune was cruising after winning the first two sets but lost the next three. That performance once again raised concerns about whether Rune has what it takes to consistently produce the goods at the highest level.

To improve his numbers in the future, Rune was recently seen working with former world number one Andre Agassi before appearing at the DC Open. The pictures were shared by different accounts on social media, which sparked rumours about the possibility of the two working together. Rune spoke to the media before playing his first match in the competition on Tuesday. Rune explained his motivation behind getting in touch with Agassi.

“I reached out to him some months ago,” said Rune. “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. He’s obviously an icon, so everybody knows him, his style and everything. So, I thought when I reached out him, he would be a good guy to get some mentoring from.”

Rune also highlighted the area in which Agassi helped him while working ahead of the DC Open. “He [Agassi] had an amazing return,” said Rune. “I have a great return, as well, but he gave me some tips on how to make it even better. He also talked a lot with my coach, Lars, sharing his experience. The goal, he thinks, is for me to try and make things move a lot more slowly on my side of the court.”

Rune further went on to talk about his goals moving forward. Rune was of the opinion that he is still hungry to improve his rankings where he is placed number eighth in the ATP rankings. . Rune further stated that his primary objective was always to reach the number one spot in the ATP rankings.

“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,” said Rune. “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 was 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. 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. 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.”