Holger Rune’s mother Aneke is perhaps the sports world’s most talked about mother this week. The reason? During the quarter-final match in the French Open against our own Casper Ruud on Wednesday, the Danish tennis comet (19) shouted in the stands to ask his mother to leave the arena. Something the mother did.
– If you can not help me, then leave the arena. Go! Go! Go !, shouted Rune, to a terrified tennis world.
The rage that it was a little chubby on the court was directed at the mother and the family. Afterwards, there was even more drama, when Rune claimed that Casper Ruud had shouted at him in the face in the locker room and boasted that he had won.
The Ruud camp strongly denied this. While Holger Rune’s mother stood her ground and said it was a lie.
Mom races: – Embarrassing
Now Rune’s mother, Aneke Rune, has taken the magazine from her mouth and summarized the events of the last few days in Paris on Instagram.
After first thanking for two wonderful weeks of tennis, family, love, passion and drama, she becomes more direct in tone:
– To all critics out there: Remember to respect the journey we are on. This was Holger’s first Grand Slam on gravel court and he reached the quarterfinals. With sprained ankle! This is amazing. None of us knew how demanding a Grand Slam tournament is compared to a regular ATP tournament. It requires both physical and mental strength, she writes – and continues:
– Do not condemn him because he is not perfect yet! We all become wiser by experience. In good and bad days we are together about this and the journey continues with the same energy and naivety as we approach everything else in life. The honest passion is a quality you can never learn or buy. It’s a gift. We can always learn control. I am sure that we will find the right balance in the future, the mother writes.
Psychologist: – Not surprised
It was not just the screams in the mother’s direction that were criticized in the tennis world. During the Ruud battle, Rune shouted, gestured and protested several times. Afterwards, he would hardly thank Ruud for the match. The behavior was described by many as unheard of in the gentleman’s sport of tennis.
In a longer article in the Danish newspaper BT yesterday, it was revealed that the scenes and outbursts are nothing new from Rune. Those who know Rune’s psyche best admit that they are not surprised.
– Know he did it
From the end of 2018 to 2021, the fierce tennis player was associated with the well-known sports psychologist Lars Robl. To the newspaper, he explains, and partly defends, Rune’s reaction:
– It is a natural defense mechanism that when the frustrations become too great and too many, you have to get rid of them. He directed it at those closest to him in this project, Robl told BT.
In this case the mother. Although Rune has taken great strides in his mental work in recent years, there is clearly still a lot to work with for Rune. The frustration can be an obstacle for the Danish tennis star, the psychologist realizes.
Historic Ruud to the semifinals
– He is a very, very dedicated and focused person, and even before I joined the collaboration, he had clear goals and ambitions to reach the top of the world. In addition, he has a temperament and a passion that is expressed sometimes because he so wants to achieve something, says the psychologist.
There is both a blessing and a curse, he believes.
– It can make him lose focus, and that was what we saw happen to Casper Ruud. So it can definitely be a burden, and therefore he has to work with impulse control, says Robl.
The psychologist also emphasizes that Rune’s devilishness, spirit and drive have led him to where he is as a 19-year-old.
– He must not put a damper on passion, temperament and drive. So you must not take that part from Holger. It is a big part of his DNA that there is so much passion and enthusiasm in him. But he must work to control his impulses, says Lars Robl to BT.