Danish tennis professional Holger Rune celebrated a victory at the start of his collaboration with his new coach Boris Becker. In front of his German mentor, the 20-year-old won the opening of the ATP tournament in Basel against the Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 1:6, 7:5, 6:3. Rune, number one seeded in Switzerland, will face local hero Dominic Stricker in the round of 16.
Last week Becker announced his comeback to the coaching business. As coach of Grand Slam record champion Novak Djokovic (36), he celebrated numerous successes between 2013 and 2016 and led the Serb back to the top of the ATP rankings.
His new protégé Rune is currently in the first major crisis of his young career. “If he can use his emotions positively, nothing will stand in his way,” Becker emphasized in the run-up to the tournament.