"Love the intensity from both players" - Boris Becker comments on Stan Wawrinka vs Holger Rune saga
The ongoing feud between Stan Wawrinka and Holger Rune has caught the attention of tennis legend Boris Becker as well.
The bad blood between the pair started at the Rolex Paris Masters in 2022 when Rune beat Wawrinka in dramatic circumstances after staving off three match points. The former World No. 3 criticized the Dane's on-court behavior post the match.
"My advice to you is that you stop acting like a baby on court," Wawrinka said at the time.
Rune rekindled the memories of the incident at the ongoing Indian Wells Masters after his loss to Wawrinka. At the net exchange, Rune asked Wawrinka if he had any comments to make this time around, much to the confusion of the Swiss.
"You've got nothing to say now?" Rune asked. "What do you want me to say?" Wawrinka replied.
Posting a video of the Rolex Paris Masters match on his Instagram stories, Boris Becker captioned it by saying he loved the intensity of both players.
"Love the intensity from both players," he captioned, tagging both Stan Wawrinka and Holger Rune.
The Indian Wells Masters meeting was the second Masters 1000 between the two players.
Stan Wawrinka to meet Jannik Sinner next at Indian Wells Masters
Stan Wawrinka will be up against World No. 13 Jannik Sinner in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open, also known as the Indian Wells Masters.
Jannik Sinner defeated Richard Gasquet in two competitive sets to set up a third-round encounter with another Frenchman, Adrian Mannarino. He overcame initial hiccups to eventually triumph 7-6 (7), 6-4 and set up a meeting with Wawrinka.
Yhe three-time Majors winner knocked out Aleksandar Vukic and Miomir Kecmanovic in the first two rounds and got the better of Holger Rune in the next.
The Italian was all praise for the three-time Grand Slam champion ahead of their clash.
"I think we both know [each other] quite well, the way we play. It's going to be for sure a tough match... He's playing some very, very good tennis. He's now back in confidence, he's had some very good wins now," Sinner said.
"He plays very well here, he likes the conditions, so hopefully it's going to be a good match," he added.
Stan Wawrinka and Jannik Sinner's head-to-head is currently level at 2-2, with the latter winning their most recent encounter at the 2023 ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam.