Holger Rune’s clay-court season came to an end in the quarter-finals of the French Open, after losing to Casper Ruud at the same stage of the competition as last year. Ranked sixth in the world, the best of his career, the Dane had a very good season on clay, including two Masters 1000 finals, in Monte Carlo and Rome, and a title in Munich.

But for his coach Patrick Mouratoglou, this defeat in the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros – his best performance in a Grand Slam (as in 2022 in Paris) – is disappointing, as the objective was to win the tournament.

In the latest episode of The Eye of the Coach, the Frenchman takes stock of Rune’s positive evolution since October 2022, and also explains that lessons will have to be learned from this Roland-Garros 2023 in order to progress towards the major objective of becoming world No 1 and winning Grand Slam tournaments.

KEY MOMENTS
5”: For Patrick Mouratoglou, last year’s Holger Rune is not the same player he is today. The Dane has progressed a lot and won a lot too.

40”: It’s time to take stock of what’s gone right and what’s gone wrong, so we can move on from a solid Top 10 player to a potential No 1 and Grand Slam winner.

50”: Even if, when you look at his ranking, this result is logical, defeat in the quarter-finals of the French Open is disappointing for Holger Rune, explains the French coach, as this is not the Dane’s objective, who aspires to go further.

1’29: The road to becoming world number one isn’t made up of victories alone; you have to experience defeat in order to grow.

1’53: Patrick Mouratoglou explains that Holger Rune was mentally tired during his match against Casper Ruud. The Dane has been playing a lot on clay over the last few months, where he has evolved a lot.

2’35: One of the reasons he was mentally tired was also his new status as a Grand Slam outsider.