Andy Murray has added another event to his Australian Open warm-up schedule. The former world No 1 had already entered the singles draw at the Brisbane International but he will also compete in the doubles with an interesting partner – Holger Rune. The 20-year-old is currently being coached by Boris Becker, who joined Rune’s team in October and was recently confirmed to be a permanent fixture.
Murray is already plotting his 2024 schedule after a disappointing end to the season. The world No 42 suffered a collapse in the first round of the Paris Masters, going out to Alex de Minaur after being 5-2 up in the final set. He then withdrew from the Davis Cup due to a shoulder injury.
He is now hoping to start next year on a high in Brisbane, where he will be getting some matches in ahead of the Australian Open. And Murray has upped his workload at the first tournament of the season by signing up for the doubles with world No 8 Rune.
The unlikely pair appeared on the entry list for the ATP 250 event, which will be Murray’s first doubles outing since the Washington Open in July, where he and Dan Evans lost in the first round. Rune has not competed in doubles since April, when he reached the quarter-final of the Monte Carlo Masters with Taylor Fritz.
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It will be the first time that Murray links up with Rune, who is Boris Becker’s latest protege. The six-time Major winner previously coached Novak Djokovic from late 2013 to late 2016 and recently took up a role in the Dane’s camp. They underwent a trial week in Monte Carlo back in October before Becker coached Rune for the rest of the season.
The German helped Rune turn his season around and he went 1-6 in matches between Wimbledon and Basel. Becker was in the world No 8’s box for the Swiss Indoors and the Paris Masters, where Rune reached the semi-final and quarter-final respectively. He also helped the 20-year-old qualify for the ATP Finals for the first time and joined him in Turin before they officially extended their partnership.
Murray and Rune faced off in an exhibition match at the Hurlingham Club ahead of Wimbledon this summer, where the youngster won 6-4 6-4. At the time, the Brit said: “He’s one of the top players in the world so you know exactly where your game’s at, which things to work on.
“It keeps you very sharp. Obviously I would have liked to have done better today, but some good stuff in there. Hopefully we can build on that in the next few days.” After Rune proved a valuable opponent in the run-up to Wimbledon, three-time Major winner Murray will hope that the world No 8 can help him prepare for another Grand Slam when they share the court in Brisbane.
