Holger Rune, at 20 years of age, has proven himself as a mainstay at the upper echelons of elite tennis with his consistent and powerful showings at major ATP events. He, along with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, are spearheading the new generation’s takeover of the sport by playing bold, attacking tennis that has fans in awe of their talent.
In his nascent career at the top, Rune has been coached by two professionals, both of whom have enhanced his game. Yet now, in the midst of a personal crisis, the Dane has roped in a former Grand Slam champion as his coach.
Boris Becker makes career comeback as coach for Rune
Boris Becker has had a torrid past few years, serving time in a British prison for illegally holding onto assets and failing to repay debts during his bankruptcy. Nevertheless, his mood hadn’t dampened and he was back as a commentator on tennis after his release. With Holger Rune undergoing a personal crisis amid a professional lull in the past few months, the German has taken it upon himself to use his skills and experience to the Dane’s benefit.
Becker told broadcaster Eurosport on a podcast published on Thursday that he will work with the 20-year-old Danish player for the rest of the season, starting at the Swiss Indoors next week.
“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,” Becker said.
Becker said he was aiming to improve the mental side of Rune’s game, terming the Dane as ‘a rough diamond in need of polishing’. This isn’t Becker’s first coaching stint, as he had worked with Novak Djokovic from 2014 to 2016. It was under his tutelage that Djokovic had one of his greatest-ever seasons in 2015.
After his loss to Alcaraz in Wimbledon, Holger Rune has faced a downturn in form, as he has won only one match including a first-round loss at the US Open and a recent shock exit at the Stockholm Open. It is to be seen how Boris’ experience and command of the game can rejig Rune’s psyche in order to produce effective results on the court.
Holger Rune faces continued death threats
Holger Rune has been facing several death threats on social media, that have proved to be too threatening to ignore as per his mom. Aneke Rune is also her son’s manager and she has had to take the more serious threats to police and urged the ATP to block the negative messages.
This on the heels of Holger’s sister’s revelation on Instagram that the family was continuing to receive death threats from faceless accounts and that they were in coordination with police to resolve the issue.
Aneke explained about how fake accounts were sending the threatening messages and that they had to be taken seriously.
“In nine out of 10, it’s like fake profiles that go write whatever they like. It can be death threats. Normally we block all this, 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 said.
The crisis seems to be a minor roadblock in an otherwise stellar career for Holger Rune, and if he can look past the current issues and work with Boris Becker to see an uptick in his form, then there are no bounds to the levels he can reach.
What are your opinions on these cruel posts by nameless accounts directed at Rune? Will the Dane work with Boris Becker and change his fortunes around? Let us know in the comments section below.
