Holger Rune picks Boris Becker as his new coach

• Danish tennis player Holger Rune has picked Boris Becker as his new coach
• Becker broke the news during a podcast show on Eurosport Germany
• The 55-year-old coach said Rune has had his contact for a long time

Danish tennis player Holger Rune has picked Boris Becker as his new coach going forward.

Becker broke the news during a podcast show on Eurosport Germany. He termed it a big honour to coach Rune, who is a formidable player of the new tennis era on the ATP Tour.

The 55-year-old coach said Rune has had his contact for a long time, and he was waiting patiently for the day he would ask him for his coaching services which he did.

“I can confirm that I am Holger Rune’s coach. It makes me a little proud that he asked me. The contact has existed for a long time. Now it was a very good fit,” he stated.

Becker explained that his calendar allowed it and that he always had a coaching interest in Ruger because he exhibits a lot of commitment to tennis.

Boris Becker. Photo/ESPN

It was Rune, 20, who invited him to a training week in Monte-Carlo and Becker got a chance to chat with Rune’s mother Aneke and Lapo Becherini, his performance coach.

He candidly told them that Rune’s future and success in tennis was in their hands and that their commitment would go a long way in making him a great player.

Rune was working with Lars Christensen as his coach after a stint with Patrick Mouratoglou for a year.

However, he has a sustained back issue which has hurdled his success this season and suffered nine losses in his last ten games.

Having coached top tennis players like Novak Djokovic, Becker is sure he will impact Rune’s attitude and physical and mental strength.

“Holger is a rough diamond that needs polishing. I like his emotional outbursts. I have coached a player before, Novak Djokovic, who was sometimes not quite himself on the court, but that is allowed,” he said.

Becker also explained the importance of Rune regaining focus in his tennis matches and emphasised that winning is the ultimate goal.

He implored that attitude is a pivotal factor in winning or losing tennis matches, noting that it’s often easier said than done. The German coach stressed the significance of understanding the Dane’s motivation, whether it’s winning specific rounds, tournaments, or achieving ranking points.

Holger Rune exited the US Open in the first round. Photo/ New York Post.

With this knowledge, he will curate ideas for improvement, particularly in areas such as attitude, mentality, and psychology which are overlooked but impact tennis performance.

He admits that it is hard turning down Rune on his request especially now that he is so determined to rise to the top of the game.

Besides coaching Rune, the German views this as a new chapter in his tennis career which ground to a halt in 2022 after his imprisonment in the UK.

A court in London indicted him of four charges under the Insolvency Act in 2022 and sent him to prison for 30 months.

Becker received a two-and-a-half-year sentence for evading creditors by concealing loans and assets totalling £2.5 million as he fought a bankruptcy trial. The case focused on Becker’s bankruptcy in June 2017 as a result of a more than £3 million loan that was outstanding on his opulent Mallorca estate.

However, he served only eight months of this sentence and was deported to Germany to start a new life.