TOAt first there were warm words. Holger RuneBoris Becker said in October that it was “a diamond in the rough that needs polishing.” He liked “his emotional outbursts” and that he “is on the tennis court with so much commitment and temperament.” That's who he was as a player, Becker said, and perhaps that's why Rune also praised his new coach: “She needed someone like him.”
The Danish tennis hopeful and the German tennis icon seemed to be a sensible connection. When Rune suddenly started again after four first-round losses in five tournament appearances, how cool! tennis Playing as expected from someone who was already number four in the world rankings at the age of 20 also seemed fruitful. “Super coaches,” that is, well-known former players like Becker, are ultimately an established model of success in tennis.
But just four months after it began, the collaboration has already ended. Resignation as head coach of Holger Rune “with immediate effect”, wrote Becker Tuesday afternoon on platform X (formerly Twitter). “Due to professional and private obligations, I cannot give Holger what he needs at this time.” There were also warm words of farewell. Becker wrote that he enjoyed the trip together. “I will always be his biggest fan.”
The separation is only surprising at first glance. The suspicion that Becker's influence might be limited was already evident when he did not accompany Rune to the Australian Open and the tournament in January. instead in Munich as a commentator for the Eurosport television channel had pursued.
Especially since Rune recently added Roger Federer's longtime coach Severin Lüthi to his team, although he has now also left. Because he also parted ways with Frenchman Patrick Mouratoglou in the spring of 2023, Rune has worn out three prominent coaches in one year.
In Becker's case, this could also have something to do with his early prison sentence for insolvency offences. At last year's US Open, she worked for the streaming provider. sportdeutschland.tv Becker had not received a visa to comment on the spot. Recently he was also not allowed to enter England and in Australia it is at least very difficult to get a visa with his background.
Of the four Grand Slam tournaments, he probably could only have accompanied Rune to the French Open in Paris. Therefore, it seems obvious that Becker was also referring to this fact when he wrote on Tuesday: “To be successful, I would have to be available to Holger much more than I can.”