Holger Rune has limitless potential says mentor
Patrick Mouratoglou believes the possibilities for Holger Rune in 2023 are limitless.
Mouratoglou explained how he feels setting goals for next season is limiting for the teenager who ended last season with a maiden Masters title and inside the top ten.
The coach feels that someone like Rune needs to aim high in order to be satisfied.
“I think everything is realistic,” Mouratoglou told Eurosport
“There is no shame in having great ambitions. Holger aims high all the time, but that’s also why he is capable of doing great things. He doesn’t necessarily set many limits for himself, and if he fulfils his goals, that’s great.
“If he doesn’t make it, that’s okay. He’ll put it off for six months, a year, two years, three years, as long as it takes for him to get there.
“I think that depending on your personality, you can experience ambitions as a pressure or, on the contrary, as something that will motivate you enormously. He’s someone who likes a challenge, Holger, so I think it makes him feel good.”
The former mentor of record-breaking icon Serena Williams believes that it is a relaistic prospect that Rune could ascend to the World No 1 ranking in 2023.
He added: “World No. 1 next year, is that realistic? Why not. When you can do what he did, anything is possible. Now, it’s going to require him to be able to perform like he did in Bercy [at the Paris Masters], all year long, and especially in the Grand Slams and in the Masters 1000, where it counts the most.
“So it’s not going to be easy, obviously, but if it were easy to be the best in the world, we’d know already. Is that realistic? It’s not unrealistic. It will be extremely difficult, but it is not unrealistic.”
According to the coach, Rune will have to excel at big tournaments in order to achieve his goal of becoming World No 1 in 2023.
“The steps are simple when you want to become world No. 1. You’re going to have to shine in the Masters 1000. He’s got to win at least three and he’s got to win at least one Grand Slam if he wants to be. But we’re trying not to look too far ahead because it’s good to stay in the short term,” he said.
“For the longer term, he has to stay there. That’s what I’ve set as a goal, so he knows what he has to do. It’s not going to be easy, but the challenges are also what make things exciting when you’re in high-level sport.”
Rune starts his 2023 season at the Adelaide International 1 which gets underway on 1 January 2023.
