Jessica Pegula & Jennifer Brady worried as Holger Rune returns to practice far earlier than advised after surgery

Jessica Pegula and Jennifer Brady expressed concern about Holger Rune resuming practice after his Achilles surgery, rather than properly resting up. The Dane suffered a harrowing injury during his semi-final match-up against Ugo Humbert, leaving the court teary-eyed with the help of an ATP physio.

Holger Rune was the Indian Wells finalist this year, becoming the second-youngest Scandinavian to reach that stage since 1987. He then won the Barcelona Open title, catapulting himself to the top 9. He was onto a successful campaign in Stockholm but fell to a season-ending Achilles injury.

Since then, the Dane has undergone surgery and has been posting regular updates on his progress on social media. However, his decision to resume training not long after his first major surgery left some players and well-wishers worried.

On the Players' Box podcast, former player Jennifer Brady referred to Daria Saville and noted that Rune was doing too much too soon, adding that his early resumption would only cause things to go downhill from here.

"Went on the gram and I saw Dasha was talking about it, and she was talking about it, and I agree with her after someone who has been through. She was just kind of like it's great for him basically that he's practicing and stuff but also there's this point of almost like rehab, exhaustion and fatigue, where you just kind of hit a wall and it's really hard. Once you know once you start practicing again after surgery, it doesn't all go uphill and it's like I don't know just kind of like he's doing a lot like very soon."

Pegula echoed her sentiments and said:

"I was watching him. I'm just like don't hurt something else. It's like that's what I felt like. I was like Oh my gosh like it's a little soon."

Pegula ended her season with the WTA Finals, where she reached the semifinals but exited after losing to Elena Rybakina.

Daria Saville discussed Holger Rune's post-surgery training

Rune at the 2025 Davis Cup Qualifiers Second Round: Day 2 - Source: Getty

Russian-born Australian player Daria Saville, who had her fair share of struggles and surgeries years ago, talked about Holger Rune's situation, noting how he rushed into training not long after his surgery.

"I was a bit like wow. You can relax a little bit. You have been injured before and he is going to get a bit of burnout if he keeps going. But I do think he is literally built different."

“I am just worried about the burnout. It will feel like I am ready. And I have talked to some of my friends who saw the video [that she made on her TikTok] and they have said that’s how I felt, I was so motivated after the surgery and I was in the gym. But after a week I was like I have got to do this for nine months," she said on the Australian Open Tennis podcast.

Holger Rune amassed five ATP Tour level singles titles, and reached the fourth round of this year's Australian Open.