"We go to police; there are some serious threats" - Holger Rune's mother Aneke opens up on social media abuse; slams ATP for lack of responsibility

Holger Rune’s mother Aneke recently touched upon the dark side of social media and opined that the ATP should take responsibility for curbing the hate that tennis players are subjected to.

Rune is currently going through a rough patch. He has won just one match since his Wimbledon 2023 campaign, where he reached the quarterfinals. Most recently, he bowed out of the ongoing Stockholm Open with an opening-round loss to Miomir Kecmanovic. It is worth noting that the Dane was the defending champion at the event.

As a result of the dramatic fall in the results, Rune has become a target of social media abuse. His mother Aneke recently revealed the extent of scrutiny faced by the 20-year-old. She noted that while social media is essential for the younger generation, it has its drawbacks, and pointed at the hate spewed by people with fake profiles.

“I read a lot of analysis about the social media. We cannot get rid of it because it’s part of the interaction for young people, which is good,” Holger Rune’s mother Aneke said on the ATP Tennis Radio Podcast.

“It’s a way for the fans to interact with their idols, which is super good. The bad thing about social media is, there are so many fake accounts that write sh*t,” she added.

Aneke further said that she understands people having personal opinions about players, but fake profiles make distasteful comments and send death threats is unacceptable.

“If it was like an honest profile saying, ‘I dislike what you do,’ then it’s fair. But, in nine out of 10, it’s like fake profiles that go write whatever they like. And it’s a really nasty thing – it can be death threats; it can be a lot of bad things they write,” she stated.

She also disclosed the measures that the team takes to protect the Paris Masters champion, noting that extreme threats are directly reported to the police, who handle the complaints expeditiously.

“Normally we block all this, so he doesn’t have to see it, and the rest of them, we go to the policemen – there are some serious threats once in a while, and they are quite serious about it, they follow it through,” she explained.

Holger Rune’s mother Aneke opined that the ATP should take responsibility and expunge the online hate from their social media pages.

“It should be possible to make someone responsible. If ATP runs an Instagram site, they should be able to block whatever is hate. Hate is not part of the serious debate. I think, the one who runs the site has an obligation to block these ones out,” she expressed.

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"Doesn't hurt to try and be nice" – Holger Rune's sister Alma on social media hate received after Shanghai Masters loss

Holger Rune at the 2023 China Open

Similar to mother Aneke, Holger Rune’s sister Alma recently rallied behind the Dane.

Prior to his exit from the 2023 Stockholm Open, Rune, who has been dealing with a back injury, bowed out in the opening round of the Shanghai Masters as well. Following his defeat, sister Alma warned the online haters on Instagram about the dire consequences of the threats directed towards her and her family.

“Just to be very clear, threats against me and my family has and will be reported to the police. And for information, the consequences are not milder because it’s online,” she wrote on her Instagram story.

“And for all the other hateful messages.. please, it doesn’t hurt to try and be nice,” she added.

After his Stockholm exit, Holger Rune is expected to contest the Swiss Indoors Basel, where he will be defending his runner-up appearance from 2022. The Dane will then face the ultimate challenge at the Paris Masters, where he will defend the biggest title of his career yet.