Jimmy
Connors has given his take on
Boris Becker's resignation from
Holger Rune's
coaching team after just four months. The German coach joined Rune's team in
October 2023 during a turbulent period for the Danish player, who had exited in
the first round of the US Open, signaling the end of his partnership with
French coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
Becker was
involved in Rune's off-season preparations but wasn't as present during the
Brisbane International and the Australian Open. However, he did make
appearances as a commentator during the televised broadcasts of the
tournaments.
The recent
surprising news revealed that they would no longer be working together after
only a few months. Becker cited personal commitments as the reason for not
being able to continue coaching Rune:
“I would
like to inform you that I will step down as the head coach of Holger Rune with
immediate effect,” Becker wrote on his X account (former Twitter). “Due to
professional and private responsibilities, I can’t give Holger what he needs
now. I wish him only the very best and I’m always going to be his n.1 fan,” the
German former world No. 1 wrote.
Jimmy
Connors weighed in on the Rune – Becker split:
Former
tennis player Jimmy Connors discussed the topic in the latest episode of his
podcast, Advantage Connors, reflecting on his time as a coach: "I
know when I was with Andy Roddick, I was on the road a lot, going to different
tournaments and being gone for 4, 5, 6 weeks in a row and going to Grand Slams,
so it's a commitment," Connors said.
"I'm
sure that [Holger] Rune saw what Boris [Becker] could bring to the table and
how he could help improve him. But, on the other hand, he's got to understand a
guy Becker's age has also a life," the American continued.
Rune’s coaching carousel
Even though
Becker stepped in to fill Mouratoglou's role, Rune already had Roger Federer's
former coach, Severin Luthi, as the head coach. This required them to
collaborate in training the current world No. 7, which may have been one of the
reasons for the separation from Mouratoglou.
Becker was
absent from Rune's team during the Australian Open, and the Danish player (8th
seed in Melbourne) experienced disappointment with an early exit in the second
round, despite being seeded 8th. Following the tournament, Aneke Rune, Rune's
mother and representative, announced that Luthi would no longer be part of the
coaching team.
"Don't
want to make a big deal out of it, but the timing with Severin [Luthi] was
clearly not right. It would be too few weeks for Severin to be able to cover
for the continuity that Holger needs," Aneke told Danish newspaper Ekstra
Bladet.