Holger Rune is struggling to create his own “identity”, according to former world No 1 Andy Roddick.
World No 13 Rune was beaten in the opening round of the Brisbane International this week, falling in straight sets to Jiri Lehecka.
The Dane had been a finalist at the event 12 months previously and his early loss at the ATP 250 event means that he has now failed to reach a final since his run in Brisbane a year ago.
Rune famously beat five top-10 players to win the Paris Masters at the end of 2022 and then reached a career-high of world No 4 in 2023.
However, a difficult 2024 saw him fall outside of the top 10 and struggle to match the heights of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who are among his contemporaries from an age perspective.
One criticism of Rune has been his inability to find a permanent coach across his career, with a partnership with Boris Becker proving short-lived in 2024.
Speaking on Served with Andy Roddick, former US Open champion Roddick expressed his belief that this was one issue holding the Dane back.
However, the former world No 1 also claimed that, compared to the likes of Alcaraz and Sinner, Rune had also not defined how he wanted to play the sport.
He said: “Alcaraz and Sinner are seemingly going to be all-time greats, and Holger Rune is still trying to find, one, a coach that he can have a relationship with for more than four or five months at a time.
“Also, an identity as a player, he feels like peaks and valleys. Sometimes he’s playing defensively, sometimes offensively – it seems like he’s looking to his box for guidance.
“Jim Courier has said this: his strategy changes day to day. There’s so much raw potential, that’s obvious, but simultaneously it still feels like he’s searching at this moment in time.
“He’s beaten the best players in the world, including Novak Djokovic a couple of times when Djokovic was at his best. So, a lot to like with Holger Rune, but also a lot of inconsistency.”
Having lost his opening match in Brisbane, Rune will now not play another competitive match until the start of the Australian Open on January 12th.
The 21-year-old reached the fourth round of the event back in 2023 but was stunned in four sets by French wildcard Arthur Cazaux in round two a year ago.
