Holger Rune is looking to make big improvements after his disappointing Wimbledon campaign.
Rune was criticised for his comments after losing to Nicolas Jarry in the first round of Wimbledon this year.
The Dane suggested that a knee issue was troubling him in his early exit from the grass court major, with Rune later wishing Jarry well for the rest of Wimbledon.
With this physical problem seemingly now better, Rune has recently been spotted on court with Andre Agassi.
Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty ImagesWhat Andre Agassi told Holger Rune during his time coaching
Rune and Agassi were reportedly working together for a short trial period in Washington D.C. ahead of the ATP 500 tournament in the American capital.
Agassi has previously heaped praise on Rune’s potential, and seemingly now wants to help the world number nine after a difficult defeat at Wimbledon.
Rune already has a main coach in compatriot Lars Christensen, but when speaking to Tennis.com he explained why he wanted to hear the input of Agassi.
“I mainly listened to one voice growing up, but as I had more coaching changes, it was natural for more people to have greater influence,” said Rune. “Since I’ve been with Lars, I hadn’t really talked to anyone else about my tennis. I thought now was a good moment to reach out to Agassi because my base is back and I’m playing well again.
“When you’re changing coaches, you don’t play as well because you’re not following one opinion or a single structure. I thought this was the right time to get some extra input, but let’s see how it’s going to work. It’s not anything magic, but he obviously had some very wise words I can use.”
When going on to more detail about the feedback Agassi told him, Rune suggested that he was given tips on how to improve his return and to generally give himself more time.
“He had an amazing return,” added Rune. “I have a great return, as well, but he gave me some tips on how to make it even better. He also talked a lot with my coach, Lars, sharing his experience. The goal, he thinks, is for me to try and make things move a lot more slowly on my side of the court.”
It has been a mixed season for Rune, who won the Barcelona Open title and reached the Indian Wells final, but has struggled to translate this form into the Grand Slams.
Rune will be hoping to put Agassi’s tips to use at the Washington Open, where he is the third seed and will play either Alexandre Muller or Beibit Zhukayev in the second round.
Who has Andre Agassi coached before?
Despite not being an official coaching partnership, this is not the first time that Agassi has helped mentor a current ATP player.
Most notably, Agassi coached Novak Djokovic between May 2017 and March 2018.
During their partnership together, Djokovic won just one title before they parted ways after less than a year together due to continual disagreements.
Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images
Another player who Agassi has coached is Grigor Dimitrov, with the Bulgarian adding the eight-time Grand Slam champion to his team in 2018.
The best result they produced together came when Dimitrov reached the US Open semifinals in 2019, before Agassi left his team a year later.