Holger Rune has had a turbulent summer, and he's been forced to make a highly important decision regarding his coaching situation.
On Thursday, Rune's mother - Aneke - revealed ego clashes between Rune's longtime coach Lars Christensen, and renowned French coach Patrick Mouratoglou who was brought into the team at the backend of last season.
And while Rune and Mouratolgou officially confirmed their split after a six-month alliance in early April, they continued to work together during the clay swing and this summer's hard-court season in North America. Unfortunately, a string of poor results led Rune to believe his alliance with Mouratoglou is unlikely to work.
Aneke Rune has now given a second interview to the Danish tabloid newspaper BT where she confirmed his son's split from Mouratoglou. Holger Rune's mother called on his son to retain Lars Christensen as his coach until he realizes his lifetime ambition of becoming the world's top-ranked player.
"It was planned that Lars would cover the clay court season, but the training ended in a hat and glasses, and therefore Patrick came to cover the clay court season with Lapo Becherini (Holger Rune's physical trainer) in the team with very good results. So it was natural for Holger to believe that the same team could work in the USA. But it didn't work."
"I would think that Lars and Holger's relationship is such that Lars must want to complete his work and lead Holger to first place in the world and win grand slams. That was the objective."
Rune picked Mouratoglou to lead him in the North American hard-court swing including the US Open. Christensen still traveled to the United States but wasn't spotted in Rune's camp. Instead, he went to work with Clara Tauson temporarily after Tauson's coach - Pedro Martinez - returned home due to personal reasons.
Tauson, who lost in the second round of the US Open, didn't confirm whether Christensen would be part of her team for the long haul but admitted she had been in communication with Martinez during the tournament. If that is the case, it may appear that Christensen and Rune would join hands again.