“Day and night,” Boris Becker compares coaching Novak Djokovic and Holger Rune as he aims to push the Dane to Nole’s level

Holger Rune has defeated Novak Djokovic in two of five encounters but lost in last two at Paris Master and ATP Finals.

“Day and night,” Boris Becker compares coaching Novak Djokovic and Holger Rune as he aims to push the Dane to Nole’s level

Novak Djokovic and Boris Becker(L) Holger Rune(R) (Images via The New York Times and Tennis.com)

Holger Rune’s new coach Boris Becker accentuated the difference in coaching the Dane and Novak Djokovic. The Serb was under the tutelage of the former World No. 1 player for nearly two years, from 2014 to 2016. This was when Djokovic was in his prime, battling some of his toughest opponents. The German coach admitted that his aim was to bring Rune up to the 24-time Grand Slam champion’s level.

Holger Rune had announced his new partnership a few weeks ago. The Dane was having a rough couple of months on the court. Following his quarter-final appearance at Wimbledon, Rune has not had much success. However, the drafting of their new partnership just before Swiss Indoors proved to be fruitful.

Rune had reached the semi-final of the tournament, where he lost to Felix Auger-Aliassime. Since then, he has also made it to the quarter-final of the Paris Masters, where he was the defending champion. There, he lost to Novak Djokovic, who was previously coached by Boris Becker. It was a rematch of last year’s final, where Rune defeated the Serb.

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Boris Becker pointed out the contrast between Djokovic and Rune. 

It's day and night. When I started with Novak, he was 25 or 26 years old and he was already a champion, but he lost his place to Nadal
said Boris Becker

The 2013 season saw Rafael Nadal regain the year-end World No. 1 position from the 24-time Grand Slam champion. His former coach revealed that Djokovic was in his path to rediscover himself which would help him go back to winning Grand Slam titles.

Becker also pointed out that the challenge he faced with Djokovic was different than what he had with Rune.

"It was a different challenge. When you already have everything, you have to fine-tune the last few things, " he said.

Their partnership proved to be worth the effort. Djokovic gained back his No.1 ranking in 2014 which he held through till the end of 2015. For the duration of their partnership, the eight time year end World No.1 won six Grand Slam titles and 14 Masters 1000 titles. The former World No.1 hoped to reciprocate this result in the Danish youngster as well.

Boris Becker reveals that getting close to Novak Djokovic’s game will be Holger Rune’s biggest challenge

Holger Rune’s coach Boris Becker revealed that while the Dane is currently playing his best game, his biggest challenge will be to get close to Novak Djokovic. The Danish youngster had already proven that he is capable of beating the Serb at the 2022 Paris Masters final. The Dane has defeated Djokovic in two of their five encounters, both at Masters 1000 events.

Holger Rune(Image via Reuters)

His coach Boris Becker had opened up on the biggest challenge ahead of them.

"Holger reached only two quarterfinals at slam tournaments, he is at the very beginning of his career

However, after the round-robin match at the ATP Finals between Rune and Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam champion revealed that it was like playing against a mirror. To the German, this is a great compliment.

"But Holger has to get closer to Novak, that's the biggest challenge, " said Becker.

While the Dane might be proving that he is able to beat the World No.1, he is still not consistent in doing so. Djokovic still holds the edge in their head-to-head statistics. However, Djokovic’s former coach hopes to change the situation a bit, giving the former World No.4 the upper hand.

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