Rennae Stubbs, who once called Holger Rune ‘punchable’, confirms not joining the Dane as coach

The Aussie tennis icon clears the speculation on taking up coaching duties for Holger Rune after Boris Becker parted ways with the young Dane.

Rennae Stubbs, who once called Holger Rune ‘punchable’, confirms not joining the Dane as coach

Holger Rune and Rennae Stubbs (images via IMAGO)

World No. 7 Holger Rune has had a rollercoaster start to the 2024 season. He commenced his season at the 2024 Brisbane International where he finished as runner-up. The Dane lost to Grigor Dimitrov in the finals after a hard-fought run to the finals.

He next played at the 2024 Australian Open where he made an early exit losing in the second round. He was defeated by Frenchman Arthur Cazaux in four sets in one of the early upsets of the Grand Slam event.

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Following his exit in Melbourne Park, he returned to the Tour in Montpellier and made his way to the semis. He however had to retire midway through the second set against Borna Coric due to an injury to his right arm.

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Days after his exit, he announced his separation from coach Boris Becker having already parted ways with Severin Luthi after his Australian Open exit. Reacting to the news, Serena Williams‘ former coach Rennae Stubbs took to her X (formerly Twitter) account to remark about having free time at her end.

Currently not active on the Tour, her tweet was cryptic. It wasn’t entirely clear whether she offered to become the Dane’s new coach or invited him for an interview on her podcast where she had infamously called him ‘punchable’ for his on-court behavior.

However, with speculations rising about her becoming the coach for the former World No. 4, she made it clear that no such arrangement has been agreed between them. As things stand, the official ATP website has no mention of Rune’s coach and one can assume his mother Aneke might take charge temporarily.

Holger Rune back in action at Rotterdam

Amid the off-court drama surrounding him, the young Dane will be focused on preparing for his campaign in the Netherlands. He is the third seed at the ATP-500 event in Rotterdam with World No. 4 Jannik Sinner being the top seed followed by World No. 5 Andrey Rublev as the second seed.

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Holger Rune (Image via Imago)

Rune will start his campaign against Russia’s Roman Safiullin in the first round. It will be the second meeting between the duo who earlier met in the semi-finals in Brisbane this year.

Rune had won the match 6-4, 7-6(0) and will look to repeat the result and increase his lead against Roman. They are set to play their match tomorrow, on 14th February.

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