Holger Rune's mother unloaded on the ATP following her son's brutal injury as Aneke ripped into the mandatory tournament rules and what she believes are nothing else but "old-fashioned punishment methods."
In case you missed it, Rune suffered one of the most serious injuries seen this season when he broke his Achilles tendon last week while competing at the ATP 250 tournament in Stockholm. Before retiring injured, the 22-year-old started to cry and told the physio that he heard something "pop" in his tendon. After hobbling out of the court, the Dane's worst fears were confirmed as an MRI showed that the Achilles was "completely broken on the proximal part" and that he required surgery.
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Rune is not only done for the year, but he is also certain to miss the start of the year. In the best-case scenario, the world No. 10 will be able to return to action somewhere around April or May.
Speaking with Danish publication BT, Aneke stated that "there are simply too many mandatory tournaments" and that players don't have time for either physical or mental rest.
Aneke Rune: If you don't meet the criteria, you get sanctioned by old-fashioned punishment methods
"You are punished financially with some reductions that are not fair. There is an annual bonus for the players, which consists of a 50/50 profit-sharing. But in the ATP, the rules are such that if you miss one of the mandatory Masters 1000 tournaments, your total share is reduced by 25 percent, which is deducted from the player's annual share, Aneke added.
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These are old-fashioned punishment methods, and they have no place in 2025. There are unreasonable penalties for a cancelation, you should instead focus on increasing the quality of the game by having fresh and rested players on the court."
Top-30 players - which Rune is - are mandated to play all Masters tournaments besides Monte Carlo, which is optional. Also, they are mandated to play all four Grand Slams and the ATP Finals, as well as at least four ATP 500 tournaments - and at least one after the US Open.
