Meet Holger Rune’s striking girlfriend blamed for poor results before Basel run
Holger Rune is finding his feet again after a poor run of form that saw him win just one match in the space of three months. Between his Wimbledon quarter-final appearance and this week’s Swiss Indoors, the world No 6 had a 1-6 record and struggled to get any victories, with his girlfriend often being blamed for his lack of form. But Rune and his family have shut down any succession that Caroline Donzella has been behind his recent downturn.
Rune went through a difficult period this year following a run to the quarter-final at Wimbledon. The world No 6 went on to lose in the first round in Canada, Cincinnati, the US Open, Shanghai and Stockholm, managing to win a match in Beijing before crashing out.
But he has experienced a turnaround this week in Basel, as he is still in the tournament after reaching the semi-final. Although Rune has also been dealing with an injury and has made changes to his coaching camp, his real-estate agent girlfriend has been taking the brunt of the criticism when it comes to his results.
Rune recently confirmed his romance with Donzella, who boasts more than 95,000 Instagram followers and resides in Monaco like the world No 6. The 20-year-old posted a photo dump to his Instagram account last month, including a video of the pair walking hand-in-hand.
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Donzella, who is Italian and Dutch, works for a high-end real estate company in Monte Carlo. She has also previously been spotted cheering Rune on from his player box. It’s not the first time Donzella has been in a relationship with an athlete, as she also dated Italian footballer Andrea Petagna.
But it hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing for Rune and Donzella as the Dane and his team have been forced to deny speculation that his stunning girlfriend is to blame for his recent losses. “Caroline is not to blame for my poor performance,” the four-time title winner recently told Expressen.
“That is only my responsibility. People only want to look for external factors and blame others, but only I am responsible.” Meanwhile, Rune’s agent and mother Aneke told BT: “I have seen that many have written that it is because Holger has got a girlfriend.
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“There I can say with 100 per cent certainty that he hasn’t lost focus because of her anyway. He clearly still has tennis as his priority. That’s what puts him in a good mood.” While some have pointed the finger at Donzella, Rune has been dealing with issues off the court this season – including a back injury that he picked up during the clay season
He still managed to reach the Italian Open final, and back-to-back Grand Slam quarter-finals at the French Open and Wimbledon. But in the months that followed, the 20-year-old suffered a spate of first-round losses. He also made changes in his coaching team, parting ways with Patrick Mouratoglou and rehiring old mentor Lars Christensen.
And Rune made the biggest change to his team yet as he hired Boris Becker following a positive training week in Monaco. The German tennis star has been cheering on the top seed in Basel this week from his box. Announcing their link-up, Becker told Eurosport Germany: “It makes me a little proud that he asked me. The contact has existed for a long time. Now it was a very good fit. My calendar allows it and I have always been interested in Holger because he is on the tennis court with so much commitment and temperament.”
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