Former tennis great Jimmy Connors recently weighed in on the situation surrounding Holger Rune’s coaching partnerships, suggesting that Rune’s mother, Aneke, is driven by a desire to see her son reach new heights in his career after years of dedicated support.
Rune has faced challenges in establishing long-term coaching relationships, opting to move on from childhood coach Lars Christensen. Over the past 15 months, he has worked with three different coaches—Severin Luthi, Boris Becker, and Patrick Mouratoglou—each ending in a relatively short span.
Speculation has arisen regarding Aneke’s involvement in her son’s tennis journey due to these frequent changes. Connors, however, defended Aneke’s involvement, emphasizing her commitment to her son’s success.
He explained, “It’s not about the control she [Aneke] has, it’s just that everything she has put in to get Holger at that point, she’s looking to go beyond that and unless it’s going to work in his favor, she should step in.”
Drawing from his own experience of being coached by his mother before transitioning to Pancho Segura at 16, Connors highlighted the importance of respecting Aneke’s role in Rune’s career. He suggested that any new coach working with Rune should acknowledge and honor Aneke’s contributions.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how that works out and who comes and can stick in there because you’re not dealing with the player [Holger Rune] himself, you’re also dealing with the force that got him there, which is his mom,” Connors remarked on his Advantage Connors podcast.
