Holger Rune credits Boris Becker for helping him 'come back from almost nowhere' ahead of ATP Finals
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Published 06/11/2023 at 22:34 GMT
After making the Wimbledon quarter-finals, Holger Rune won just one of his next eight matches as he struggled to find his best form. The decision to appoint Boris Becker to his coaching team sparked an immediate improvement and Rune says Becker has helped him out of a "negative spiral". Rune also said he is not at his best level yet but is "improving fast" ahead of the ATP Finals.
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Holger Rune has credited Boris Becker for helping him “come back from almost nowhere” to competing with the best again, as he eyes the upcoming Nitto ATP Finals.
Rune had a big dip in form after making the Wimbledon quarter-finals in July, winning just one of his next eight matches, including three straight first-round losses in Toronto, Cincinnati and at the US Open.
But the addition of Becker to Rune's coaching team sparked an immediate improvement as the Dane reached the Swiss Indoors semi-finals in their first tournament together.
Last week he then made the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters, where he pushed Novak Djokovic close in a three-set tussle.
Reflecting on his return to form, Rune said: “It is never easy to reverse a negative spiral like the one I went through in the past months.
“Boris helped me a lot in this. I’ve come back from almost nowhere, from a period where I was losing all the time in the first round to a big match like this against Novak, close to my best level.
“We can already see the results of our work. He immediately made several adaptations, minor changes in my game and I played better.
“I don't want to say what it is, but it will be easy to see. I haven't reached my best level yet, but I'm improving fast.”
Rune was the last player to qualify for the ATP Finals in Turin, which start on Sunday, November 12.
He will be competing at the end-of-season tournament for the first time after being an alternate last year but not getting on court.
He says his performance against Djokovic gave him plenty of encouragement ahead of the finals.
“If I had played against him a few weeks ago, I would have lost in two sets,” he reflected.
“And this is how I played a great game in which I showed that I am close to the maximum. That best shows how far I've come.
“I should have done some things differently, but I lacked courage in certain moments. The match was similar to last year [when Rune beat Djokovic in the Bercy final], although I think I was more passive in some periods. On the other hand, maybe he forced me to be more passive.
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"Now I have to analyse all that so that I can come back stronger and try to beat him in Turin."
Rune was scheduled to play in Metz this week but pulled out to prepare for the ATP Finals.
He will be joined in Turin by Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner, Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev.
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