We can only assume that Rune is on board with the announcement. He featured Becker in recent social media posts, including a photo of his support team at the weekend which carried the caption \u201cGreat practice week in Monaco.\u201d<\/p>\n
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An Instagram post from Monaco earlier this week revealed Rune\u2019s involvement with Becker (centre).<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Instagram<\/cite><\/p>\n But Rune\u2019s coaching situation has been complicated for some time. He had an association with Patrick Mouratoglou, formerly Serena Williams\u2019s coach, between last October and April \u2013 but it was never quite clear whether he was working primarily with Mouratoglou or with fellow Dane Lars Christensen.<\/p>\n Becker left no room for doubt in his interview with Eurosport, saying \u201cI can confirm that I am Holger Rune\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n This will be Becker\u2019s first coaching role since he worked with Novak Djokovic between 2013 and 2016 \u2013 a period that found Djokovic landing six major titles and racking up 122 weeks as world No 1.<\/p>\n As with Mouratoglou and Rune, this wasn\u2019t a nuts-and-bolts technical role. Becker offered broad-spectrum guidance while \u2013 for most of their time together \u2013 Slovakia\u2019s Marian Vajda led the on-court sessions.<\/p>\n Boris Becker served eight months of a two-and-a-half year prison sentence.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cI met Holger when he was 15, 16 years old,\u201d said Becker, of the world No.8. \u201cThat was at the ATP Finals, when I was still coaching Novak Djokovic. Holger was our training partner. That\u2019s how long I\u2019ve known him and his mother. We have always stayed in conversation. And now the question came: \u2018Can you help me?\u2019 And my answer was: \u2018Yes, let me visit you in Monte Carlo.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cHe then talked about the rest of the year. That was OK with me and I freed up time for Basel, Paris and, if we make it, Turin [the venue for the eight-man ATP Finals]. After that, we\u2019ll decide whether the co-operation has a future and whether we\u2019ll go into 2024 together.\u201d<\/p>\n In all probability, Becker\u2019s first job will be to persuade Rune \u2013 who, at 20, is one of the sport\u2019s most promising talents \u2013 to step off the treadmill. At this time last year, Rune was almost unstoppable, defeating Djokovic to win the Paris Masters. He was also developing a reputation for winding up other players, with three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka telling him to \u201cstop acting like a baby\u201d during a chilly handshake at the net.<\/p>\n But despite continuing his form through the first half of 2023, Rune has lost seven of eight matches since Wimbledon. According to his mother Anneke, he has been struggling with a bulging disc in his back for some time. And yet he insists on continuing to play. On Tuesday, he fell to Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round of Stockholm. Before that, he had taken a 6-0, 6-2 towelling from world No.122 Brandon Nakashima in Shanghai.<\/p>\n Holger Rune has won just one match since Wimbledon.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>AP<\/cite><\/p>\n Becker \u2013 who expects to start his tenure next week in Basel \u2013 alluded to this issue when he said \u201cFor me, it\u2019s about \u2018What is Holger\u2019s motivation?\u2019 And the reason to go to China, for example? Is it just to win the first round or the tournament, is it for ranking points? \u2026 If he plays every week, he will eventually get tired. That\u2019s why I have to have a big say in this, according to the motto: \u2018Here we have to insert a training week, here we have to regenerate, and maybe you go on holiday with your girlfriend for 10 days.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Becker was a big part of the \u201csupercoach\u201d trend that Andy Murray began by hiring Ivan Lendl at the end of 2011. Lendl has since returned for a third stint with Murray \u2013 again, in a relatively remote capacity \u2013 while Djokovic now employs former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, and Rafael Nadal is coached by former world No.1 Carlos Moya.<\/p>\n Yet none of these names can compete with Becker\u2019s stature in the game \u2013 nor his chequered and complicated life story.<\/p>\n His return to the tour confirms that \u2013 as far as the tennis world is concerned \u2013 Becker\u2019s penalty for tax evasion ended on the day of his release.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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