Holger Rune raises issue with ‘fight any cost’ mentality after criticism of Lorenzo Musetti
Holger Rune has defended Lorenzo Musetti after the latter was targeted for giving up too easily in some onlookers’ eyes.
Musetti was up two sets to love against Novak Dhovkcic when he retired due to an issue with his thigh, although some have suggested he threw in the towel too early.
One of the harshest critics was coach Brad Gilbert who suggested Musetti should have at least waited until pain medication had a chance to kick in.
“You feel like, why not wait for the painkiller tablets to kick in? At least play out the rest of the third set,” he said in a video posted on his X account.
“I know that Grigor [Dimitrov] did it at Wimbledon last year up two sets, but basically missed the rest of the year. You feel like, man, Musetti better be out 6-8 weeks.
“I know he seems a bit gun shy about injuries, but maybe you have to play out that third set.”
Rune though disagreed with such a sentiment and suggested his own injury was proof that players should not always push through the pain.
During the 2025 Stockholm Open, the Dane tore his Achilles tendon and suggested that should be a warning to his fellow competitors.
“Look what happened to me when I pushed through a grade 1 tear in the leg….cost me longer time away from tennis than ever before,” Rune posted on social media.
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“Yes we want to fight at any cost and with pain, but I perfectly understand Musetti chose to listen to his body.”
Musetti at the time defended his actions by stating the pain was only getting worse even after the medicine, prompting him to retire.
“I felt there was something strange in my right leg,” he said.
“You know, I continued to play, because I was playing really, really, really well, but I was feeling that the pain was increasing, and the problem was not getting away.
“At the end, when I took the medical time-out, to stay three minutes, I sat, and when I started to play again, I felt even more (pain) and was getting higher and higher the level of the pain.”
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