Boris Becker announces return to tennis as coach of top-ranked player

Boris Becker has revealed he will take up the role as the new coach of Danish world number six Holger Rune.

The three-time Wimbledon champion Becker was jailed for two and a half years in April 2022 for hiding £2.5m worth of loans and assets to avoid paying debts.

He was found guilty under the Insolvency Act, which revolved around an unpaid loan from his luxury estate in Spain, but he also had a previous conviction for tax evasion in Germany in 2002.

Becker was released from prison early in December and flew to Germany, with the BBC reporting at the time that the former six-time Grand Slam champion had been deported.

Under the condition of his licence, he will not be able to return to the UK, where he lived from 2012 onwards, before October 2024, so could not coach at next year’s Wimbledon.

Becker coached Novak Djokovic between 2013 and 2016, during which time he won six Grand Slams - the Serbian now has a record-breaking 24 major titles to his name.

The 55-year-old German announced on a German Eurosport podcast he is Rune’s new coach.

The 20-year-old Danish player has previously worked with Serena Williams’ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou and reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

However, Rune has struggled since, winning just one of his last nine games, and has asked Becker to take up the role.

“I can confirm that I am Holger Rune’s coach,” Becker told Eurosport Germany’s podcast.

“It makes me a little proud that he asked me. The contact has existed for a long time. Now it was a very good fit.

“My calendar allows it and I have always been interested in Holger because he is on the tennis court with so much commitment and temperament.”

Becker added: “Holger is a rough diamond that needs polishing.

“I like his emotional outbursts. I have coached a player before, Novak Djokovic, who was sometimes not quite himself on the court, but that is allowed.”