Andy Murray’s Ex-Coach Disagrees with Holger Rune’s Mother for Blaming ATP Schedule After Injury by Citing Jannik Sinner’s Doping Ban

While Holger Rune has ended his season, Jannik Sinner will be skipping the Davis Cup because of the long calendar.

Andy Murray’s Ex-Coach Disagrees with Holger Rune’s Mother for Blaming ATP Schedule After Injury by Citing Jannik Sinner’s Doping Ban

Holger Rune, Aneke Rune (Image via X/ESPN Tenis)

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Holger Rune was forced to end his season after tearing his Achilles tendon while returning a shot against Ugo Humbert in the semifinal of the Stockholm Open. Rune began to limp and broke down in tears in pain.

The Dane, prior to starting his campaign, said at the press conference that he did not have any problem with the long schedule but finds the new ATP 500 rule a bother. As per the rule, players will lose points if they don’t participate in at least four ATP 500 events, including one after the US Open.

His mother, Aneke Rune, harshly condemned the 11-month busy calendar, saying that not giving any time to the players between tournaments can result in them being mentally and physically exhausted. She thinks too many mandatory tournaments are forcing players to sign up for events even if they’re in need of a break. But Mark Petchey, the former coach of Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu, doesn’t think players are forced to participate.

Players/team members firebombing their own tour publicly is a bad, if not suicidal, commercial strategy. People that love tennis will watch tennis. People who don’t love tennis, won’t watch a sport where multi-millionaires moan. It’s a turn off. Most would happily embrace the grind that is currently being torched.

Mark Petchey wrote on X

Petchey cited Jannik Sinner‘s example. Sinner was forced to stay on the sidelines for three months due to the doping case, but despite that, he continues to remain in the top two in the rankings.

You can’t grow the sport by dropping grenades in the press. Sinner missed 3 months of the tour. 4 Masters events and is 2 in the race. You have a choice how much you want to play in reality. You just lose a share in the bonus pools. You aren’t forced to do anything when you look at it like that.

Mark Petchey added

Due to his ban, Sinner missed the Indian Wells Masters, Miami Open, Monte Carlo Masters, and the Madrid Open. He made his comeback at the Italian Open, only to end it as the runner-up. The four-time Grand Slam champion next played five more finals, winning at Wimbledon and the China Open.

Rune won just the Barcelona Open this year by beating Carlos Alcaraz. He also played the Indian Wells Masters final but failed to defeat Jack Draper.

Jannik Sinner’s take on the hectic schedule

Jannik Sinner, even though he has never complained much about the tennis calendar, also thinks the season is too long and is not at all a fan of the Masters 1000 tournaments that last for 12 days. It’s because of the long calendar that Sinner has decided to skip the Davis Cup Finals, scheduled to start on November 18 in Bologna.

Jannik Sinner (2)
Jannik Sinner (Image via X/Jannik Sinner)

He wants to take an extra week off to start his pre-season training earlier, ahead of the Australian Open next year. Sinner, however, is facing a lot of criticism for his decision from the Italian tennis community. The 24-year-old won the Davis Cup in 2023 and 2024, winning every match he played.

He is in Vienna, bidding to win his fourth title of the season, and will kick off his campaign on October 22 against Daniel Altmaier. Sinner, who holds a 2-1 head-to-head lead over the German, is chasing his second title in the tournament following his victory in 2023 over Daniil Medvedev.

Before Vienna, Sinner was in Riyadh for the lucrative Six Kings Slam, where he defended his title by sweeping past Carlos Alcaraz, winning the $6 million prize money. Last year as well, Sinner defeated Alcaraz.

Also read: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina Slams David Ferrer for Snubbing him after Carlos Alcaraz’s Inclusion for the Davis Cup Finals