Holger Rune makes intriguing appointment as he hires Roger Federer’s long-time ally
Holger Rune had vowed to hit the ground running in 2024 and he is assembling an A-list cast of coaches to give him the best chance of achieving that goal.
Rune has spoken at length about his move to hire three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker as his full-time coach, but now he has added an equally high-profile tennis name to his expanding team.
Severin Luthi worked with Roger Federer throughout his glorious career, with the 20-time Grand Slam king a close confidant of a Swiss coach who was a key part of his team between 2007 to his retirement in 2022.
He has also worked with the Switzerland Davis Cup team but has been absent from the top level of the game since Federer’s retirement in September 2022.
Now he is back in a prominent role, after world No 8 Rune confirmed Luthi will be part of his coaching team for the 2024 season.
Rune confirmed the news as he posted an image on his social media pages with Luthi and Becker sitting alongside each other, while his mother was also present in the photograph.
Aneke Rune has been accused of having an over-influential role in her son’s career. buy Holger insists he is the man making all the decisions over his tennis future.
Very happy to welcome Severin to my team alongside Boris 🤩 pic.twitter.com/ZGsOzojfNZ
— Holger Rune (@holgerrune2003) December 20, 2023
“If there is a boss, it’s me because it’s my decision,” he insisted when asked whether his mother had a role in helping to assemble his coaching team.
“I listen to the people around me and like to have my mother there, my fitness coach there and Boris there. If I didn’t want any of them here, they wouldn’t be here. That’s the end of the story.”
He also spoke about working with Becker as he added: “Boris is a great guy. He’s a really good man. I think if people mistake him for that, it’s totally wrong because he has a great heart and he’s a great coach.
“He helped me a lot during because I had the tough middle of the season with everything so it was needed that he came and we start improving again, and he’s a great guy, a great coach.
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“We did some good work and proper training, so I’m excited for the future.
“It’s more mental and tactical than technical, I would say. Of course, he has a few tips, especially on the serve. He had a great serve himself but it’s a lot of psychological.
“We’re continuing together in. We had two weeks pre-season in Monaco where he was there, we did some good work, proper training, and I’m excited for the future,” he confirmed.
“He is experienced, I am less experienced and maybe more eager to play. It is about scheduling right, but for now, we are practising and setting our goals. We will work our scheduling from there.”
Rune retained his place in the world’s top ten in 2023 despite some indifferent results at the back end of the season and there is plenty of room for him to improve as he heads into the new season.
With a coach who guided Novak Djokovic to multiple Grand Slam champions in Becker joining Federer’s long-time coaching ally, Rune certainly has some serial winners in his camp as he looks to go to the next level and win one of the biggest prizes in tennis.
