Holger Rune

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[Damian]

Rune Energised By Djokovic Rivalry

Spoiler:

Dane next plays Tsitsipas
Holger Rune and Novak Djokovic played out another three-set epic on Sunday at the Nitto ATP Finals, where the Serbian prevailed to move to 3-2 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. It is the fourth time in a row the pair’s clashes have gone to deciding sets, with Rune winning at least one set in all five encounters.

Despite his defeat, Rune was proud of how he fought against the World No. 1 again.

“We have had great matches always when we played,” Rune said. “Unfortunately I couldn't do it today, but that's how it is. I have to look forward and take the things out of the match I was happy with, take the things out of the match that I wasn't happy with, and go back to the practise tomorrow and try to make them better.

“I thought it was a higher level match than in Paris, that I’m glad,” added Rune, who lost in three sets to Djokovic at the Masters 1000 event in France earlier this month. “The result was pretty similar. Novak is an amazing player.”


Rune, who is making his debut at the prestigious year-end event, pushed Djokovic hard throughout the three-hour, four-minute clash before ultimately falling short. The 20-year-old is pleased with how he handled the physical element of the match.

“I think physically I felt okay. Of course, I feel it. We played [for] three hours. But I'm sure he also felt it a little bit,” Rune said. “I was ready, if I had the chance, from 5-3 to 5-4 to keep going, but that didn't happen. I think I tried to manage my energy as good as possible during the match, not use too much unnecessary energy, and stay calm and play the tennis that I like to play.”

Watching on in Rune’s box was coach Boris Becker, who had a successful spell working with Djokovic from 2014-16. The Dane is pleased to be working with the German.

“It's great. It's really good. He [Becker] has been there many, many times himself, which helps,” Rune said. “He can give out from his experience, give that to me on how to handle the things on the court, off the court. We are still in the tournament, so let's continue to fight.”

Rune will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in his second Green Group match before finishing against Jannik Sinner. The 20-year-old is still alive in the event.

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[DUN I LOVE]

Pewnie nie tak wyobrażał sobie Rune pierwszą wygraną w turnieju mistrzów, ale ma ją.

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[Damian]

All Rise For Rune! Why Becker & Team Get On Their Feet

Spoiler:

Dane will next face home favourite Sinner in Turin
Holger Rune hired former World No. 1 Boris Becker as his coach last month. Since then, Rune has rejuvenated his season following a mid-year slump. With a semi-final appearance in Basel backed up by a quarter-final run in Paris, Rune is now making his Nitto ATP Finals debut with Becker in his corner.

One notable trait in their young partnership is how often Becker rises to his feet while watching his player compete.

“Might be for the blood flow for the legs,” Rune joked in his post-match press conference. “I just think when he wants to do the coaching, he stands up. He can express more, his way of coaching me. So I think that's why. I haven't asked him why he does it.

“When I worked with Patrick [Mouratoglou], he also did it a lot. I think it's just a character thing that some do, some don't do. I like the way my box behaves. It's cool to have him, Lapo [Becherini] (strength & conditioning coach), Mike [James] (data analyst) and my mom to be here with me.”

Rune improved to 1-1 in Green Group on Tuesday when Stefanos Tsitsipas was forced to retire after just three games. The World No. 8 Rune, who suffered a three-set defeat to Novak Djokovic earlier this week, is soaking in his Turin debut.

You May Also Like: Tsitsipas Retires In Turin, Hands Rune Win
“I think the Nitto ATP Finals is the biggest ATP event we have. I think it's a super, super exciting event because I compare it a little bit to Formula 1, because they have these smaller events with less players,” Rune said. “It's very intense. It's less matches. Top against top. Obviously you have one day of rest every time, so it's nice for the body also.”

The Dane’s next challenge will be to extend his 2-0 Lexus ATPHead2Head record against Italian Jannik Sinner.

“He can do whatever he wants on the court. He can hit a great forehand, great backhand, great volley. Great movement, serve, everything,” Rune said. “Obviously it's more tough here in Italy to play him. That's what it is. I'm just going to prepare.”

Rune also added that he was prepared for a normal match against Tsitsipas, who was physically unable to continue after 15 minutes.

"Unfortunate to end this way," Rune said. "I was just ready to compete and build on the level that I did on Sunday. Was expecting a different match obviously, but another tough one."

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ATP Finals 23: pierwszy wygrany mecz w Finałach ATP.

[8] Holger Rune d. [6] Stefanos Tsitsipas 2-1 i krecz

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Courtside Calculation! Tennis IQ Powering Rune’s Charge At Nitto ATP Finals

Spoiler:

Mike James from Holger Rune’s team discusses mid-match use of data
A well thought-out gameplan is key to regularly win matches on the ATP Tour.

Pre-match scouting reports and post-match debriefs with coaches have long been part of the routine for top stars as they look to outthink their on-court rivals. Now, thanks to the ATP and Tennis Data Innovations (TDI), it is the mid-match strategic battle that could become even more decisive to give a player the best possible chance of victory.

Tennis IQ, ATP and TDI’s performance analytics platform, gives all ATP singles players access to advanced match analytics within one simple and intuitive platform. This week at the Nitto ATP Finals, tennis analyst Mike James, a member of Holger Rune’s team, is using the system on a tablet in the Dane's player box to offer a live data-driven perspective to coach Boris Becker.

“Boris has his own view and he's got a very good coaching eye, but what I see using the data in the match is confirmed learning,” James told ATPTour.com in Turin. “[Boris] might feel something is happening, he just wants confirmation of it — around the court position, around the serve speeds and serve accuracy. [These are things] that we can see live.

“I think traditionally how we've used analysis is obviously pretty much scouting, post-match in the game development and starting to work on things. Now doing it live, I think it has massive value.”

Mike James
Mike James is part of Holger Rune's team this week at the Nitto ATP Finals. Photo Credit: ATP Tour

James began working with Rune after he joined the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in France in January 2022, when the Dane was No. 104 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. He was immediately impressed with the appetite for analysis of the then-18-year-old and his coach, Lars Christensen.

“Lars at the time was super into video analysis and data analytics, as was Patrick Mouratoglou, and Holger is obsessed with the game,” said James. “He's eating the tennis ball for lunch, dinner, and evening meal, and he's always watching video and diving into it anyway. So it was a really nice fit.”

Fast-forward nearly three years and Rune is this week making his Nitto ATP Finals debut as one of the top eight performing players across the 2023 season. So what are the key areas James is currently focused on to help Rune, who holds a 1-1 record in Green Group this week in Turin, compete against his elite rivals?

“For me, a big one is court position, because we know that for every metre you go further back, you have to hit the ball 18 per cent harder to keep the same ball speed,” explained James. “That’s just physics. The reality is for someone like Holger, who has a good above-average ball speed on his backhand and forehand, the court position is really important to keep dictating the rally.

“Of course there are [simpler] things like second-serve points won and things like this, but court position right now in his game is the big one that we are really focusing on.”

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James emphasises that analysing the data itself is only one part of his job. The fact that he works with four different players — Rune and three WTA stars from the Mouratoglou Academy and Champ'Seed Foundation — makes communication key.

“I think the feel and the type of language you use [is important],” he said. “I keep it simple. It has to be digestible and quick to get to the player. A lot of tennis players naturally go on feelings, they go on emotions, so when you start bringing in sport science, it becomes a different challenge. You really have to tailor-make how you are delivering it to each individual team.

“I work with four different players. How I’m delivering it to Boris and the other coaches is totally different.”

You May Also Like: All Rise For Rune! Why Becker & Team Get On Their Feet
In terms of its overall impact, James believes another advantage of Tennis IQ is the way it allows specific positive aspects of a performance to be isolated and conveyed to a player, even with data from matches they did not win. He cites the early months of the 2022 season, when Rune was just making the step up from the ATP Challenger Tour to the ATP Tour, as a prime example.

“During that period of January and February when he wasn't winning many matches, this is where the analysis helps,” said James. “To give feedback that, ‘Look, you didn't get the outcome today, but the process and the performance in an area of your game is going up’. People think it's always about winning, but when you're losing, there's a lot of value to give an extra bit of confidence to the player.

“Information is power, but how you use that information and deliver that information can be destructive or creative. For someone like me who has been doing performance analysis for the past five or six seasons, I feel very in tune with knowing how to deliver it and when to deliver it. I think more people like myself will come into the game and it’s going to be interesting to see how it evolves.”


James is an experienced analyst who has worked in the role since 2018, previously helping the likes of Magnus Norman (the then-coach of Stan Wawrinka), Miro Hrvitan (then-coach of Miomir Kecmanovic) and the team of Iga Swiatek. He credits Tennis IQ with democratising the use of data and ensuring it is not only useful for top players who possess the resources to hire a specialist.

“The biggest value right now for Tennis IQ is during the match,” he said. “However, if you’re another player who doesn’t have access to someone like myself and the facilities we have at the academy, you can dive into the software and look at all the metrics that we have been using at the academy for the past two years.

“I think it creates a level playing field. What it gives someone like me to do is to create different insights, to keep one step ahead. I think it’s a good thing, I think it raises the level.”

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