"These are old-fashioned punishment methods, and they have no place in 2025" - Holger Rune's mum criticises ATP scheduling and 'unacceptable' financial repercussions

Holger Rune has been ruled out for 9-12 months after suffering a devastating achilles injury in his semi-final clash in the Stockholm Open. His mother, Aneke, has come out lambasting the ATP for putting on so many mandatory tournaments.

With the players welfare coming under more scrutiny, the numerous tournaments and events these tennis stars are competing in has started to be talked about, with Rune suffering the possible consequences from this. If you do not play in them, then financial and ranking punishments are on offer.

"There have simply been too many mandatory tournaments," Aneke Rune said in an interview with B.T. Sport. "Tournaments that the players are obliged to participate in, and where they are severely penalised financially by not playing them all. The players simply do not have time to recover properly throughout the season."

"What could have been a week off with light training and recharging is now a hectic tournament week with matches every other day, while there are mandatory media events for every single tournament. There is no rest – neither physically nor mentally. You also have to build on it throughout the entire season. You have to include training weeks where you can work physically and optimise your game and prevent injuries. It's a lot for the body. For completely normal, healthy, well-trained bodies, it's almost impossible to be sharp in everything that is expected of tennis players over the course of a year."

Former cyclist Michael Rasmussen recently sparked criticism over Rune after the 22-year-old was suffering from cramp in his Shanghai Masters campaign, citing poor preparation.

"I heard cyclist Michael Rasmussen say that it was simply too bad that Holger was not properly prepared physically in Shanghai, where he got cramps in 35 degree heat with 80 humidity," Aneke Rune said. "And to this I must simply reply that with the history the former Tour de France rider had of systematic doping use over 12 years, where he used, among other things, epo, growth hormone, testosterone, DHEA, insulin, IGF-1, cortisone and blood transfusion, I am absolutely certain that he would be well prepared for a tennis tournament in Shanghai and a season with 45 high-intensity work weeks."

While Rune and his team would probably prefer to have the odd tournament off, Aneke explained that the financial implications he would suffer from, with him having to play in the mandatory events to receive these bonuses.

"Then you are punished financially with some reductions that are not fair. There is an annual bonus for the players, which consists of a 50/50 profit sharing. But in the ATP, the rules are such that if you miss one of the mandatory Masters 1000 tournaments, your total share is reduced by 25 percent, which is deducted from the player's annual share. And not only that, you are also excluded from playing the next Masters 1000 tournament, and thus one cancellation has effectively become two involuntary ones. And in this way you are now even closer to losing the entire year's profit sharing, which happens if you do not play four out of the total of 10 mandatory Masters tournaments.

"I don't think it's connected, and I believe that unrealistic pressure is being placed on the players, which in the worst case could lead to the use of inappropriate methods to keep up with the ATP calendar. These are old-fashioned punishment methods, and they have no place in 2025."

She went on to suggest the abolishment of mandatory tournaments: "There are unreasonable penalties for a cancellation, you should instead focus on increasing the quality of the game by having fresh and rested players on the field. If you want to make financial reductions, do it as a percentage in relation to the amount they have played and reported cancellations. Instead of robbing them of everything."

Aneke was quick to point the finger once more at the ATP for all these tournaments that her son needed to play in, pleading for 'drastic reductions' so similar scenarios can be avoided for the future.

"Now Holger is the latest victim in the line of injured players. With an injury that most often comes due to fatigue. It is unacceptable that you do not take the players' well-being into account to a greater extent - but just put more and more pressure on them.

"Holger is facing a long period without earnings. Fortunately, he has done well over the years, and he has managed his finances well by having good savings, so he is not in need. But not all players are top-10 in the world, and many may not have the same savings. And then the drastic reductions in their bonuses mean a lot. I think this is something that ATP can adapt immediately,"