Boris Becker put his role as Holger Rune’s coach aside on Thursday as he commentated on his own player’s shock Australian Open exit. The German shares coaching duties with Severin Luthi and is not in Melbourne with Rune this week, instead working for Eurosport at home in Germany. And Becker appeared on the broadcaster’s coverage to analyse Rune’s defeat instead of speaking to his player as the world No. 8 was dumped out by teenage wildcard Arthur Cazaux.
Day five of the Australian Open was full of thrilling matches and upsets as several top seeds were stunned in the second round. One of them was Rune, who was beaten by world No. 122 Cazaux 7-6(4) 6-4 4-6 6-3. He struggled to match up against the Frenchman, making 40 unforced errors while Cazaux put on a serving masterclass, firing down 18 aces.
It was a disappointing result for Rune, who recently formed a superteam of coaches to see him through the 2024 season. The 20-year-old hired Becker back in October – later confirming they would stay together long-term – and added Roger Federer’s former mentor Luthi during the off-season. It was Luthi who joined him Down Under, while Becker made the unusual decision to commentate on his own player’s defeat.
“You’ve got to give credit to Cazaux, who is a very talented young player and played a great match. It was more Arthur winning than Rune losing,” the seven-time Grand Slam champion told Eurosport, who he is working for this fortnight. Becker then went on to analyse the reasons his player lost, admitting that he wouldn’t be speaking to Rune until the following day.
Assessing his own protege, the former world No. 1 said: “He’s got a very quick arm, he’s got a lot of firepower, he’s got a lot of inspiration on the court, but at the same time that’s the problem. It’s knowing when to do what. So talking about tactics, when to accelerate, when to take chances and when you play defensively, it’s always a fine line when to do what.”
Looking at the match itself, Becker continued: “Losing the first set in the tie-break and then losing your very first service game in the second set, those are the moments he has to improve mentally.” The German also had some tactical advice for Rune, explaining why the 20-year-old needed to use more heavy topspin.
“Now and then it’s a bit flat or he hits a half-volley from the baseline, which on good days is a trick shot and on bad days you hit it with the frame out,” he added. While it was a bizarre choice to publicly assess Rune’s game instead of speaking to his player directly, Becker confirmed that he and Luthi were planning to continue coaching the Dane this season.
