Holger Rune: "Whatever Boris Becker's doing off the court, I don't need to have an opinion on"

Holger Rune recently expressed his views on his new coach Boris Becker's prison sentence over fraud during his Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) outing in London.

Rune, 20, employed the services of the six-time Major champion in October after he faced an opening round exit at the 2023 US Open under his former coach Patrick Mouratoglou.

The Dane had a strong finish to his 2023 season with Becker at his side. He reached the semifinals and quarterfinals at Basel and Paris Masters, respectively, while also qualifying for the ATP Finals in Turin.

Boris Becker, meanwhile, was given a prison sentence of two years in 2022. The former World No. 1 had been found guilty by a London court for hiding his assets after going bankrupt in 2017. He was eventually released after eight months, following which he started his stint as Rune's new coach.

In that context, Holger Rune was asked during an interview whether Becker spending time in jail weighed on his mind. The World No. 8 replied in the negative, before heaping praise on his coach for his knowledge and warmth.

"Whatever he’s doing off the court, I don’t need to have an opinion on that because I hired him to coach me, not to do anything else. He’s a great guy. He’s a really good man. I think if people mistake him for that, it’s totally wrong because he has a great heart and he’s a great coach," Rune said (via Tennis365).

Rune added that Becker helped him steady the ship after a difficult few months that saw him endure a bad patch of results:

"He helped me a lot during because I had the tough middle of the season with everything so it was needed that he came and we start improving again, and he’s a great guy, a great coach. We did some good work, and proper training, and I’m excited for the future."

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Holger Rune reveals he saw the highlights of Pete Sampras vs Boris Becker from the 1996 ATP Finals

Boris Becker and Pete Sampras greet each other after their 1996 ATP Finals match

During the interaction, Holger Rune also disclosed that he had watched the highlights of the German's five-set championship match-outing against Pete Sampras at the 1996 ATP Finals in Hanover.

He also asserted that the playing style of that era was not much different from that of the 21st century.

"I watched before we started some highlights of him and Sampras in Berlin. Incredible tennis and they still play like real tennis like you do nowadays," Holger Rune said.

"They are hitting the shots like we do almost, just more to the net, more serve and volley, but I think it’s exciting, it’s still an effective way to play," he added.