"Boris Becker was right there"- Holger Rune's 'surprise' reunion with Patrick Mouratoglou questioned by Serena Williams' ex-coach and Andrea Petkovic
Rennae Stubbs and Andrea Petkovic have questioned Holger Rune's decision to reunite with Patrick Mouratoglou.
Mouratoglou and Rune have worked together during two separate spells in the past. The duo's first collaboration started in October 2022, which was marked by Rune winning the 2022 Paris Masters title after defeating Novak Djokovic. It came to an end in April 2023.
However, it wasn't long before they came together again. This time around though, the collaboration was not as successful as Rune suffered a drastic dip in form following the 2023 French Open. After a shock first-round exit from the 2023 US Open, Rune parted with Mouratoglou.
The Frenchman recently announced that the duo has embarked on their third spell together. Rune's decision to bring Mouratoglou back into the fold has been questioned by Rennae Stubbs, Serena Williams' ex-coach, in an episode of Racquet's Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast.
"I don't know, it's a surprise to me. We literally were having dinner and talking about this the other night, and we didn't think that was going to happen, I think for various reasons. I don't know why he's going back, but as I said, results will show. We'll see what happens." Stubbs said (19:00).
Stubbs' sentiments were also echoed by Andrea Petkovic, who featured as a guest on the episode.
"Boris Becker was right there, Holger. He was right there. I'm not saying Patrick is a bad coach. He might even be the perfect coach for Holger Rune, but come on, it's Boris Becker man."
Boris Becker's lack of consistent availability led to his removal from Holger Rune's team
Boris Becker joined Holger Rune's team in October 2023. At the time, the objective of Becker's appointment was to ensure a spot for Rune at the year-end Nitto ATP Finals, and the German delivered. Rune subsequently extended the collaboration with his then-coach.
However, at the start of this season, Becker was missing from the Dane's box at the Brisbane International and the Australian Open. While Rune managed to reach the final in Brisbane, his run in Melbourne ended in the second round after a shock loss to wildcard Arthur Cazaux.
In early February, Becker announced via social media that he would be stepping down from his role in the 20-year-old's team.
"We started this partnership with the initial goal to reach the ATP Finals end of last year but moving forward I realized that in order for this to be successful, I would need to be available for Holger much more than I can." Becker wrote on X (formerly Twitter).