Does Holger Rune's split with Boris Becker affect his Grand Slam chances?

Six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker recently stepped down from his post as Holger Rune's coach. The decision came as a surprise for most, as the German had become Rune's coach just last October.

A stint of a mere four months would surely not have been on Becker's mind when he first took up the assignment. In this context, it has to be mentioned that he is an accomplished coach, too, and has coached Novak Djokovic in the past.

In fact, Becker’s stint with Djokovic saw a major turnaround in the latter’s career. The improvement in the Serb’s serve started to show during the German's tenure as his coach. Hence, Rune's abrupt split with Becker is a questionable one, to say the least.

For a player who turned pro in 2020 and is only 20 years old at the moment, Rune seems to have attracted a lot of attention for his off-the-court decisions in comparison to his exploits on it. He has parted ways with Patrick Mouratoglou, Lars Christensen, and Severin Luthi, all in the space of less than six months.

Aneke, Holger's mother, who has been her son’s mentor for many years, could be influencing those decisions, given her role in her son's entourage. If that is true, then she will have to understand that she herself cannot do the necessary fine-tunings in her son’s game.

Aneke has, incidentally, stepped down as her son's Press Manager recently and also commented on Rune's split with Becker, saying on the Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast that the German's commitment with Eurosport made the association difficult and that her son 'needed someone else' who can spend more time with him.

While Holger's mother might have done a lot in grooming her son from the beginning, the latter needs professional advice and expertise at this stage of his career. Hence, if his mother is indeed influencing his career decisions, then perhaps it is doing him more bad than good at the moment.

Rune has done the hard yards to be ranked seventh in the world at the moment. Therefore, he should take a leaf out of the books of his contemporaries Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who have done wonders under the tutelage of Juan Carlos Ferrero and Darren Cahill, respectively.

While Ferrero has been with Alcaraz for a very long time now, Sinner and Cahill have also been together for a few months.

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Holger Rune needs some improvement in his game

Holger Rune is undoubtedly one of the most talented youngsters in tennis. He has already won a Masters 1000 title and been the runner-up on two occasions.

The Dane has a wonderful backhand and movement on court. However, his serve is not of the highest quality, and his volleying, although good, could be still better. Hence, his performance in Grand Slams has not yet been up to the desired level and he hasn't reached the semi-final stage in any of the four Majors.

Becker used to be one of the best serve-and-volley players in his day and could have definitely helped the young Dane out in that regard. There is no point in crying over spilled milk now, but Rune will do well to remember that he will need professional expertise to help him progress further in his career.

Hopefully, Rune will make a wise choice in terms of picking his next coach and will stick with them for some time. However, should the whimsical manner in which he has been dealing with his coaches continue, his undeniable talent might very well go unfulfilled in the future.