Holger Rune defends girlfriend Caroline Donzella after model cops criticism for his poor form

Holger Rune has defended his girlfriend Caroline Donzella, stating that his bad form is not linked with their relationship.

Rune made his relationship with Donzella public earlier this year, when he took to social media to share a series of photos and a video in which he could be seen walking hand in hand with her.

He captioned the post:

"A little bit of everything from this week good recovery and feeling healthy again. thank you to everyone helping me this week to get back on track. Now off to China, looking forward."

Donzella is an Italian-Dutch student and model who was previously engaged to soccer player Andrea Petagna.

Their relationship, however, has come under the scanner ever since the Dane began stuttering on the ATP tour. Since his quarterfinals run at the Wimbledom Championships this year, he has failed to register back-to-back wins on the tour across seven tournaments.

Rune was last seen in action at the Shanghai Masters, where he made an opening round exit after defeat to Miomir Kecmanovic. There has been talk of how his form is linked with his relationship, with former Danish tennis player Michael Mortensen one of the many who linked the two.

"It's very important. It's his first love, and it means a lot, a lot. That makes it difficult to concentrate solely on playing tennis," he told Ekstra Bladet.

Rune, however, has come out in Donzella's defence, saying that only he is to be blamed for his results.

"The results are nobody's fault. It's my fault. It has absolutely nothing to do with her," Rune said in a video posted on Expressen.

---

Holger Rune's mother Aneke backs Dane to win a Grand Slam title soon

Holger Rune at the 2023 China Open.

Holger Rune's mother Aneke is supporting the Dane to win a Grand Slam title in the near future. While she acknowledged that it isn't an easy task, she stated that it was only a matter of time before he wins his maiden Major.

"Every time Holger puts up a goal, then he reaches his goal. So it's just a matter of time when we get the Grand Slam I guess," she said.

Rune's best Grand Slam performance came at the 2022 French Open, where he beat the likes od Denis Shapovalov, Henri Laaksonon, Hugo Gaston and Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach the quarterfinals.

His run at the claycourt Major came to end following defeat to eventual runner-up Casper Ruud.