“Holger Rune-Boris Becker match is going to make me watch a little more tennis” – Jimmy Connors

Eight-time Grand Slam champion Jimmy Connors has proclaimed that the new partnership between Holger Rune and Boris Becker has piqued his interest enough to make him watch more tennis than before.

Rune recently roped in Becker, who carries the experience of previously working with 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, as his full-time coach. The Dane parted ways with Patrick Mouratoglou following a slump in his on-court performances.

Jimmy Connors showed excitement over the Rune-Becker liaison in the making. During a recent episode of the Advantage Connors podcast, he commented on how the duo would communicate during a match, saying:

"It’s going to be interesting for me to see if Holger Rune keeps looking up to him after every point. I don’t know if Boris will go for that."

Connors played against Becker six times during the late 1980s and early 1990s and lost every time. He recalled the German's style of play and chemistry with coach Ion Tiriac.

"Boris is kind of old school you know, and when he was playing and Tiriac was in his corner and he went through all that when he was young, he tended to his business on the court. He wasn’t looking up every minute to his box, looking for instructions. He knew what he had to do," the American said.

Connors continued:

"So, it’s going to be interesting. I would be looking at that, that’s going to be important. That [Rune-Becker] match right there is going to make me watch a little more tennis."

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"I played Boris Becker a number of times, his groundstrokes were heavy and that seems to be the way Holger Rune likes to hit his groundstrokes" - Jimmy Connors

Boris Becker

According to Jimmy Connors, Holger Rune and Boris Becker share commonalities in their approach to their groundstrokes. During the podcast episode, he said:

"I played Boris a number of times and his groundstrokes were heavy. And that seems to be the way Holger Rune likes to hit his groundstrokes too."

"Now if Boris can get Rune moving a little bit more forward and let him understand the value of getting into the net and shortening the point sometimes when he hits that big heavy groundstroke, and he can," Connors added.

Connors showed his faith in the coaching abilities of the German legend, saying:

"I’ve done TV with Boris and he can break it down and explain it pretty darn good so I think that’s a very good match."

After a semifinal exit at the Swiss Indoors Basel, Holger Rune is scheduled to take on winner of the Dominic Thiem-Stan Wawrinka first-round match in his Paris Masters opener.