Boris Becker has signed the dotted line to take over as Holger Rune's full-time coach for the 2024 season after confirming an extension to their initial agreement.
Becker's confirmation comes just a couple of days from the official announcement by Rune's camp, which was done in writing by the Dane's mother, Aneke Rune. In her statement, Aneke was happy that they found a "good setup" through Becker's expertise for Holger to develop as a player.
The German great was initially assigned a temporary role in the team to cushion and salvage Rune's 2023 season following the dismissal of Patrick Mouratoglou as coach. Rune confirmed that his alliance with Becker was meant to last until the end of the season.
Becker's first main task at the helm was to turn around Rune's famine run of one win in 11 matches across all competitions, which he did at the first time of asking in Basel. Rune's second and most important objective was to qualify for the ATP Finals.
"I am very excited to continue my partnership with Holger Rune in 2024. We are building a team around Holger to bring out the best version of himself, on and off the court."
Despite coming under enormous pressure Rune did enough to secure his place at the ATP Finals in Turin for the first time in his career. The 20-year-old was thankful to Becker for getting his season back on track and believes he deserved all the plaudits for helping him "come from the abyss."
It has to be noted that Becker did a commendable job as a short-term fix, with many fans pointing to improved performance levels in most of Rune's matches. He battled the likes of Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner and stretched them to three sets.
Rune will finish the 2023 season with a Top 10 year-end ranking for the first time in his career. His renaissance gives him the platform to go into the new season with a positive mindset.
In Becker's last high-profile job as a coach, he steered Novak Djokovic to six Grand Slams and 14 Masters 1000 titles. Whether he will have a similar sort of impact with Rune remains to be seen, but there is a modicum of optimism that something special could be brewing next year.
0 Comments