When things aren’t going your way, players often look for external motivation to help themselves bounce back. Such is the case with Holger Rune. After showing tremendous promise over the past few years, the Danish sensation has lost track, having an inconsistent run across the tournaments this year. Although he won the Barcelona Open this season, Rune’s performances otherwise have been disappointing. Moreover, in the recently concluded Wimbledon Championships, he lost in the opening round against Nicolas Jarry. Recently, he broke his silence after linking up with American legend Andre Agassi.

Earlier this month, Agassi made a massive move by coming back to the tennis world, this time in the role of a mentor. He will help Holger Rune at the Citi Open, where Rune is the third seed. The Danish sensation has a good chance of bouncing back and clinching a title after a long time. Moreover, with Agassi by his side, Rune will have the extra advantage of the experience of a legend who has won multiple Grand Slam titles.

During a pre-tournament interview, Rune was asked why he hired Agassi as his mentor. Talking about this, he said, “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.”

After reaching a career high of Number 4 in the world a couple of years back, Rune is currently lying just inside the top 10 at the ninth spot. Moreover, he has an important part of the season coming up at the US Open Swing and believes that it is important to start well at the Citi Open. Thus, he looked up to Agassi for inspiration and made a candid confession on the path ahead.

Holger Rune on his battle against Sinner and Alcaraz

While Rune has struggled for a major part of this season, the likes of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have been at their very best. The two have won all three Grand Slam titles this year between them, giving their opponents hardly any breathing space. Despite this, Rune believes that he can close down the gap with two of the best players at this time.

He said, “I think [the gap] is very distant for some, but for some others, they’re not that far away [from Sinner and Alcaraz]. I’m going to include myself when I say we’re not that far away. I see my high end of tennis to be really, really high, so I just have to lift the button, really, and stay more consistent to win more matches. I do need to stop feeling like I need to play spectacular tennis all the time to beat them.”

However, Rune is more than 5000 points behind the second-placed Alcaraz. For Rune to close down the gap with the duo, he has to start winning consistently and take home the big moments. It’ll be interesting to see how he performs at the Citi Open under Agassi.