“Don’t know who Holger Rune’s coach is but he makes bad decisions” – Rune can challenge Carlos Alcaraz if taught the right way, says Spencer Segura
Spencer Segura, a former tennis player, recently opined that Holger Rune's coach is making poor decisions for the young player. Despite this, Segura believes that with the right training and guidance, Rune can challenge Carlos Alcaraz in the future.
Segura sat with his former doubles partner and eight-time Grand Slam winner Jimmy Connors on the Advantage Connors podcast to discuss the future of tennis. Segura is the son of Hall of Fame inductee Pancho Segura.
During the conversation, Segura suggested that Alcaraz's second serve could be put to the test by his contemporaries going forward.
"There’s a way to beat Alcaraz, you just need to find the player that has the ability to do it, then you have to teach him how to do it. If there’s a way to attack his second serve," said Segura.
Still, Segura backed the Spaniard to be one of the greatest moving ahead. He said:
"If this guy (Alcaraz) makes another move, he could be the next one of the Big Three. This kid could easily go ten years like this if you don’t have guys that learn how to return big and volley and come in behind the ball."
Segura then hinted Rune might be the guy to do it before claiming that his coach, Lars Christensen, has some work to do.
"Rune kind of doesn’t play so smartly but he has sort of an attack of the second serve. He stands in and attacks, he’s very athletic. I don’t know who his coach is, but he makes really bad decisions like in drop shots from behind the baseline. He could be that one (who beats Alcaraz) if he’s taught the right way," he said.
"Otherwise, you’re not going to beat him (Carlos Alcaraz), he’s a maestro. He has got chips, he has got drop shots, he has got angles, he has got fakes… he can do anything. Those guys can’t. And it might take him (Rune) till 28 to learn it all," he added.
Carlos Alcaraz leads the head-to-head count against Holger Rune
Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune have faced each other thrice so far with the Spaniard leading 2-1 in the head-to-head tally.
The youngsters' latest meeting at Wimbledon had Alcaraz written all over it as he defeated the Dane 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-4. The 2023 Wimbledon champion also defeated Rune two years ago, during the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Italy.
Rune's sole victory over the Spaniard was a walkover in the quarterfinal of the Paris Masters in 2022. The Dane was, however, in a commanding position after securing the opening set 6-3; Alcaraz decided to retire owing to an injury in the second set.