Exclusive: Holger Rune 'very happy' with new coach Boris Becker - 'You will all see on the court'
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Published 31/10/2023 at 11:26 GMT
Life under the tutelage of Boris Becker has started very well, according to Holger Rune. The Dane experienced a slump in form after a quarter-final appearance at Wimbledon and hired the German in a bid to once again hit the heights that led him to the Paris Masters title last year. Rune gets his defence underway in the French capital against Austria's Dominic Thiem.
Exclusive: Rune 'very happy' with Becker joining him as coach
After enduring a horror run following a quarter-final appearance at Wimbledon, Holger Rune believes things are looking up now that he has started working with Boris Becker.
The Dane lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the last eight at the All England Club, which sparked a streak of nine defeats in 10 matches for the world No. 7.
In a bid to rediscover the kind of form that led him to the Paris Masters title last year, Rune hired Becker after splitting with Patrick Mouratoglou and told Eurosport he is "very pleased" with the progress the pair have made in just a short space of time.
"We've known each other for some years now and I thought that he has great experience both with his own career, but also as a coach," Rune said.
"So, we talked a little bit, and we had a great practice week in Monaco, and here we are.
"It was my own decision to look around to see what I thought would fit me. I feel like I thought this would be good and it turned out to be good. So I'm very happy and pleased with that."
Rune reached the semi-finals of the Swiss Indoors event in Basel in his first tournament since uniting with Novak Djokovic’s former mentor and admitted his game already "feels in better shape".
Rune was tight-lipped on the specifics of what the pair have been working on but said they were both in agreement about the direction in which they want to go.
"We will keep that a secret. You will all see on the court," he continued.
"I think that's important. You cannot have me [with] one opinion, he's another opinion, you have to go in the same direction and that’s we're doing."
Rune will hope to build on the result in Basel with a strong defence of his Paris crown. He kick-starts his campaign in the second round against Dominic Thiem after the Austrian battled past Stan Wawrinka.
Also at stake is a place in the ATP Finals in Turin, which gets underway on November 12. Rune currently occupies the eighth and final qualification spot but only has eyes for creating more magic in the French capital.
"For me, Paris means everything because it's where I had my biggest title so far," the 20-year-old said.
"So for now, Paris means more than Turin for me. I'm just going to put all my focus here to try to do as good as possible. Try to do the same as I did last year. I know I can do it. I did it before, so I'm just going to fight full to be able to get the chance.
"I stepped on the court this morning [and it] was very, very beautiful feeling. I still remember, obviously, which end that I had the match point on and it was a crazy fight.
"The crowd here is amazing, very energised crowd, really supportive. So it makes playing a lot more fun."
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