Holger Rune says he is not bothered by the criminal conviction hanging over Boris Becker after hiring the six-time grand slam champion as his coach.
Becker was convicted of four charges under the Insolvency Act at a London court last year, having been accused of hiding assets when he declared bankruptcy in 2017.
The German was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, but was deported to his homeland last December after serving eight months. He was subsequently banned from returning to the UK, potentially for as long as 10 years.
But Rune has no concerns about the 56-year-old’s ability to do the job as a result, and i understands that Becker will be in Australia for the first grand slam of 2024 in January.
“I know many players that really like him. So do I. Whatever he’s doing off the court, I don’t need to have an opinion on that because I hired him to coach me, not to do anything else,” said Rune, speaking at UTS Grand Final, an exhibition event in London this weekend.
“He’s a great guy. He’s a really good man. I think if people mistake him from that, it’s totally wrong, because he has a great heart and he’s a great coach.”
Asked if it concerned him that Becker would not be able to join him at Wimbledon, Rune said he had “no answer” for the question and seemed to agree that the event was too far in the future to consider.
Becker previously coached Novak Djokovic from 2014 until 2016, winning six grand slam titles in the process, and appears to have already had a positive impact on Rune.
After Wimbledon, the Dane went on a run on of seven defeats in eight matches, but then hired a new coach and immediately reached the semi-finals in Basel and the quarter-finals in Paris.
He only picked up one win at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals but believes he is well set for 2024 after a positive pre-season fortnight with Becker in Monaco.
Rune added: “He helped me a lot during [the end of the season] because I had the tough middle of the season with everything so it was needed that he came and we start improving again, and he’s a great guy, a great coach.
“We did some good work, proper training, and I’m excited for the future.
“It’s more mental and tactical than technical, I would say. Of course, he has a few tips especially on the serve. He he had a great serve himself but it’s a lot of psychological.”
Rune has been doing his research. Born in 2003, four years after Becker retired, he had to delve into the YouTube archives to get to know the German’s game better, but liked what he saw.
“I watched before we started some highlights of him and Sampras in Berlin,” Rune said.
“Incredible tennis and […] they still play like real tennis like you do nowadays. They are hitting the shots like we do almost, just more to the net, more serve and volley, but I think it’s exciting, it’s still an effective way to play.”
Rune, 20, reached a career-high ranking of No 4 in the world in 2023 but finished at No 8 after his difficult summer and failing to defend his indoor title in Paris from last year, worth 1,000 points in the standings.
Meanwhile, one of his peers Jannik Sinner had a strong finish to the year with a win over Djokovic en route to Davis Cup victory for Italy, a triumph many believe will see him join Carlos Alcaraz and the world No 1 in a three-headed rivalry at the top of the men’s game next year.
But it remains a triumvirate with one clearly ahead of the others, Djokovic having been within a couple of points of winning all four grand slams this season.
“I think it’s great to see that Novak can still play at this level. It’s unbelievable what he’s doing,” said Rune.
“Alcaraz won a slam this year, Sinner finished in the top four. I was No 4 four for the first time this year so I think the next generation is very interesting.
“We’re trying to compete with Novak to see if we can match him but he is still winning three out of four grand slams so it’s kind of tough. So before we can say that, we need to start winning more regularly against him.”