Six-time major winner Boris Becker said he has stepped down as coach of Denmark’s world No. 7 Holger Rune with immediate effect due to “private and professional responsibilities”.
Becker returned to the tennis circuit last October to coach Rune, who went on to compete in the eight-player ATP Finals in Turin where his debut in the season-ending championship ended in the group stage.
“We started this partnership with the initial goal to reach the ATP Finals (at the) end of last year but moving forward I realised that in order for this to be successful, I would need to be available for Holger much more than I can,” Becker wrote in a social media post on Tuesday.
“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. I truly appreciated this journey together.”
Becker, 56, was released from a British prison in December 2022 after having served eight months of a two and a half year sentence for hiding financial assets after he was declared bankrupt.
The three-times Wimbledon champion, who previously coached Novak Djokovic from 2013 to 2016, is currently barred from entering the UK.
Rune competed at the Australian Open without Becker’s company.
Becker stayed in Germany to fulfil his role as a tennis expert and Rune lost in the second round of the Australian Open to France’s Arthur Cazaux. Reuters
