He gave me insight of where he sees me in future: Rune on short Collab with Agassi

Washington, July 21 (IANS) World No. 8 Holger Rune, who teamed up with Andre Agassi for a three-day training block in Washington D.C. ahead of the start of the DC Open, expressed that he feels he has emerged stronger following a brief collaboration with the former two-time US Open champion.

World No. 8 Rune, looking for an edge coming into the pivotal US summer hard-court swing, reached out to Agassi to help hone his game at the very venue at which the two-time US Open champion won five of his 60 career titles.

“It was nice. We've been in touch for a while, and we did a couple of days together here in Washington, where he was helping me with a few things, giving his opinion,” Rune said in a press conference.

“It was really a big pleasure. He’s a very, very wise man. I've never met a guy who sees the game this way.”

“Obviously he had an amazing return himself and I also return well and he had a few tips there and how I can be slightly better there and then in general about the game.

“It was a really short period but definitely he gave me an insight of where he sees me in the future, where he sees me now and obviously there's a lot of things to improve. He helped me to get my focus and my eyes on the right things, together with my coach Lars (Christensen). It was really cool to spend some days with him.

“I’ve watched a lot of him on YouTube and his style and the way of playing was amazing. His career speaks for itself," he added.

Asked if he might collab with Agassi in the future, the former World No. 4 said, “He’s a great man, so I would definitely like that.”

The 22-year-old Dane will open his Washington campaign against Frenchman Alexandre Muller or a qualifier.

Rune, who defeated Carlos Alcaraz to win the ATP 500 title in Barcelona and reached the ATP Masters 1000 final in Indian Wells, have also had six opening-round losses this season, including in his last start at Wimbledon.

He won the Rolex Paris Masters in 2022 when he defeated five Top 10 players, a feat that saw him qualify for the ATP Finals. Since then he has added two titles: Munich in 2023 and Barcelona this year.

--IANS

bc/