"I don't want to eat any more painkillers, that doesn't help" - Holger Rune on recent back injury

Holger Rune and his mother Aneke recently spoke to a Danish tabloid after losing his singles match at the 2023 Davis Cup World Group 1 playoffs.

The World No. 4 has suffered from a debilitating back injury of late. He has been largely compromised by it, having lost his last seven competitive matches. This run of poor form includes a four-match losing streak on the ATP tour dating back to early July.

Rune also dropped his singles match while representing Denmark against Brazil in their World Group playoffs, losing to Thiago Monteiro in three tough sets. After the match, the Dane revealed the height of his injury as he admitted that he was regularly taking ibuprofen to help with his performance.

"I don't want to eat any more painkillers, that doesn't help," Rune said to Nyheder, a Danish tabloid.

Aneke Rune, meanwhile, reportedly asserted that her son's back injury had arisen from his serve movement. She also revealed that the World No. 4 was working with his former coach Lars Christensen to rectify the problem. She did concede, however, that the back pain is "unbearable" for her son during matches.

"Now Lars has corrected the serve movement, and it fits well, but we clearly cannot reduce the inflammation with ibuprofen. And it has to go, because it is unbearable for Holger to play with pain," Aneke Rune said.

Holger Rune's mother also revealed that since painkillers don't often alleviate the young Dane's pain, he has to resort to injections on his back. She said:

"It hurts every time he pushes up to serve. And large doses of ibuprofen have not worked. So he has to have an injection in his back to take the inflammation that is there now."

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Holger Rune has had a respectable season in 2023 despite poor run of form recently

Holger Rune poses with the runner-up trophy at the 2023 Italian Open

While Holger Rune has been bothered by his back injury this year, he has still managed to have a good season on the ATP tour. The Dane has compiled a 37-19 win-loss record in competitive matches this year, with an ATP 250 title in Munich and over US $3 million in prize money to boot.

The highlights of his 2023 season came at the ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in Monte Carlo and Rome, finishing as the runner-up at both events. Notably, Rune defeated World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, before losing to Daniil Medvedev in the final.

Holger Rune also had a good grasscourt season in July, reaching the semifinals at Queen's and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. The Dane subsequently dropped both of his singles matches at the 2023 Hopman Cup later in the month.

He then failed to have an impact during the North American summer hardcourt season, losing four matches in a row — which included a first-round exit at the 2023 US Open.