Holger Rune needs mayhem says pundit after tame French Open exit

Former French Open champion Mats Wilander believes that Holger Rune needs a spark to fire him up at times.
Rune went down in four sets but surrendered the first two tamely in a weak start.
The Swede feels that it isn’t in Rune’s nature to be ‘on’ from the get-go all the time but felt that he needed to do something to get himself up for big matches.
“I don’t know if we can ever expect him to be a hundred percent committed professionally, emotionally, physically from the beginning of every match,” Wilander said on Eurosport’s The Cube.
“I just don’t think that’s his personality.
“I think he needs mayhem, he needs a little bit of that Nick Kyrgios, and he didn’t have that.
“He was flat and I think it’s a learning lesson for him, but again I don’t know if he has the energy to be because he’s so fired up in a way – but not with his tennis racquet in his hand.”
Wilander was surprised that Rune didn’t really respond to dropping the first set and only rallied in the third set.
“I would have expected him [Rune] to get a little more fired up early in the second set,” Wilander continued.
“I mean, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe start talking to his box, start screaming at his box, start finding people in the stands, just to do something.
“Eventually though he started actually, I think, getting a bit irritated with the other side of the stadium which is where Casper Ruud’s box is, and I think he was using that.
“He needs something. I think that’s going to be his strength, but it’s also going to be a weakness in certain situations.”
Meanwhile former British No 1 Tim Henman felt that Rune suffered from a lack of a clear gameplan to break down Ruud.
“He had 15-40 in Ruud’s first service game and you thought ‘ok, here’s a good opportunity’. And then once Ruud held serve, it was bizarre, it was just one-way traffic,” Henman said.
“Rune was not really timing the ball, he was making all sorts of unforced errors. He looked like, mentally, he just didn’t have a game plan.
“I think sometimes you can play badly and it takes you time to find your form, you know, maybe after a set then you get going.
“But in such a big match for such a good player – yes, he’s young, he’s not massively experienced – but you know, for those first two sets to be 6-1 6-2, I think was a massive surprise to everyone.”
READ MORE:Iga Swiatek ‘hasn’t even been tested’ en route to French Open semi-final
Latest
-
Tennis Features
Six ways clay courts are superior to hard courts
Clay courts often get a bad rap with the odd player gripe repeated endlessly in the media, but the surface has a number of big upsides.
-
Tennis News
WATCH: Intense Felix Auger-Aliassime brushes off Laver Cup spat with Gael Monfils
Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gael Monfils shared some heated moments after the Canadian complained to the umpire during their Laver Cup clash.
-
ATP Tour
More questions for Andy Murray to answer after another agonising defeat
Andy Murray blew an early lead as he crashed to defeat against Aslan Karatsev in the last 16.
-
Tennis News
Roger Federer reveals what he misses about tennis as Rafael Nadal surprises him
Speaking in an interview with former world No 1 Jim Courier at the Laver Cup, the 20-time Grand Slam champion reflected on how his life chan
-
US Open
Top coach spotted Coco Gauff’s potential very early on
Patrick Mouratoglou has revealed that Coco Gauff left a big impression on him during their first meeting.
-
Tennis News
British star set for rankings breakthrough after a decade on the ATP Tour
Liam Broady set to break into the top 100 of the ATP rankings for the first time.
-
Tennis News
Guadalajara proves a balm for Maria Sakkari’s suffering once again
Maria Sakkari feels that the bond between herself and Guadalajara has grown closer after another deep run in the Mexican city.
-
Tennis News
Novak Djokovic hits raw nerve with tennis chiefs after latest controversial comments
Djokovic has made some radical proposals that would ensure the huge amounts of cash being generated by gambling goes to tennis players.
-
Tennis News
Ben Shelton salutes the three players who have taken him under their wing
Ben Shelton has paid homage to the brotherhood of the top American men in the game.
-
Tennis News
Can Cameron Norrie still reach the ATP Tour finals powered by strong Asian swing?
Cameron Norrie is out to reach the ATP Tour finals this term.