"Holger Rune just needs to learn how to play tennis better.. he's lost a bit" - Serena Williams' former coach Rennae Stubbs

Serena Williams' former coach Rennae Stubbs has said that Holger Rune's game is far from complete, despite acknowledging the Dane's talent. The Aussie said that the young Dane lacked great gameplans.

The Dane's struggles began last year following his quarterfinal loss to Carlos Alcaraz at the Wimbledon Championships. Four straight defeats in quick succession saw the Dane crash out of the Canadian Open, the Cincinnati Open, and the US Open.

While he did pick up the odd win here and there after the dismal run of losses, the Dane was mostly inconsistent throughout the remainder of the season. As a result, Rune's ranking took a significant hit, as he fell from a career-high World No. 4 to World No. 8 at the end of the year.

Keen on rediscovering his best form in 2024, the 2022 Paris Masters champion roped in Boris Becker and Roger Federer's former coach Severin Luthi. However, both associations failed to stand the test of time, with Rune eventually bringing Patrick Mouratoglou back into his camp.

However, despite occasionally showing signs of improvement, Rune, for the most part, has been disappointing so far this season. His best run in 2024 came right at the start of the year at the Brisbane International, where he reached the final but lost to Grigor Dimitrov.

The Dane's most recent outings at the Madrid Open and the Italian Open, in the buildup to the French Open, ended in third-round exits. Rune's poor performances have also seen him drop out of the top 10 in the ATP rankings. As of now, he is the World No. 13.

Recently, Rennae Stubbs, who was an accomplished doubles player in her prime and coached Serena Williams for the 2022 US Open, assessed Rune's plight. According to the four-time Grand Slam doubles winner, there is no doubt about the Dane's talent, but there remain flaws in his overall game.

"His (Holger Rune's) talent level is through the roof but the forehand's a little funk and he just needs to learn how to play tennis better. I feel like he's lost a little bit on the court. He doesn't really have these great gameplans out there," Stubbs said in an episode of Racquet's Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast. (24:40)

Stubbs proceeded to talk about Rune's lack of a consistent, 'go-to' approach on the court.

"What are your strengths? What do you play to? He's young and he's athletic, but I feel like he doesn't really know what his go-to stuff is. Like what's your go-to stuff that you can rely on every single point over and over and over?" Stubbs asked.

Holger Rune set to start French Open campaign against Dan Evans

Holger Rune in action at the 2024 Italian Open

Rune, the No. 13 seed at this year's French Open, is slated to kickstart his campaign at Roland Garros against World No. 60 Daniel Evans on Sunday, May 26. The meeting will mark the pair's first clash on the ATP Tour.

Despite the Dane's persistent struggles to maintain form and consistency, he would be confident going into his match against Evans. The Brit has been on a dismal run of his own across recent tournaments.

At the Italian Open, he fell to Fabio Fognini in the first round. In a bid to restore his confidence heading into the French Open, Evans played a Challenger-level tournament in Bordeaux, France.

The Brit reached the quarterfinals before losing to Shang Juncheng. Next, Evans headed to the Lyon Open, where he lost his first-round match to Arthur Rinderknech.