Becker sees star he’s training to topple Djokovic lose straight after link-up

Holger Rune lost his first match after teaming up with Boris Becker for a training week. The pair are playing coy over whether they have formed a long-term coaching partnership but Becker joined the world No 6 for a recent practice block in Monaco. The German previously worked with Novak Djokovic and will be hoping to inspire Rune to follow in the world No 1’s footsteps and eventually knock him off the top.

Rune crashed out of the Stockholm Open in his opening match on Wednesday. The top seed and defending champion at the tournament, he lasted an hour and 44 minutes on court as he lost to Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6(3) 6-2.

The match also marked Rune’s first since he started working with Becker after the retired tennis star joined him at the Monte Carlo Country Club for a training week. The 20-year-old shared some snaps of Becker with his team and later addressed their link-up though did not reveal whether the German was officially joining his coaching camp.

“It was a really good week of training,” Rune told TV2. “I have known Boris for a long time. He follows tennis a lot in general and he has written to me a few times. Also when I was a little younger, he gave me some tips and tricks. There he showed that he supports me.”

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Rune’s agent and mother Aneke also revealed that Becker had been in daily contact with her son since he left Monaco to travel to the Stockholm Open. But their partnership may need some more time before Becker’s influence can rub off on Rune’s results following his immediate exit from this week’s tournament.

A six-time Grand Slam champion, Becker also has a stellar CV when it comes to being a tennis coach. The 55-year-old worked with Djokovic from late 2013 to late 2016 where he guided the Serb to six of his 24 Major titles, including his long-awaited first French Open crown.

The retired former world No 1 still has a good relationship with Djokovic but he will be hoping that he can achieve similar success with his next coaching venture if he ends up working with Rune long-term. The 20-year-old already has a winning record against the 24-time Grand Slam champion and could be one of the youngsters to topple Djokovic.

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Last year, Rune made waves when he stormed to the Paris Masters title by beating five top 10 players in one week – a new first outside of the ATP Finals. It included a comeback three-set victory over Djokovic in the final. And he defeated the world No 1 again in the quarter-final of this year’s Italian Open.

The four-time title winner has been struggling with a back injury in recent months and has won just one tour-level match since his run to the Wimbledon quarter-final as his woes continued in Stockholm. But Becker will be hoping to guide Rune back to his best level and beyond in an effort to eventually reach the top of tennis.

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