Tennis legend Boris Becker (56) quit as coach of top player Holger Rune (20) after less than four months. The former Wimbledon winner announced this on Tuesday on the short message service X (formerly Twitter). “I would like to announce that I will be stepping down as Holger Rune’s head coach with immediate effect,” explains Becker.

The tennis star explains that he has to be available to his 20-year-old protégé “much more than I can in order to be successful.” However, this was not possible for Becker “due to professional and private obligations,” which is why he could not give the top ten player “what he needs.” However, Becker emphasizes that he will always be Rune’s “biggest fan.”

The former German tennis professional only announced his collaboration with Rune in October last year. At the time, he almost euphorically described the Dane as a “rough diamond that needs polishing”. At the beginning of Becker’s involvement, Rune was in sixth place in the ATP world rankings. He is currently in seventh place.

At the Australian Open at the beginning of the year, Rune was eliminated in the second round. His coach was in Germany during the tournament. A few days ago, Rune had separated from Roger Federer’s (42) ex-coach Severin Lüthi (48), whom he had brought into his team shortly after Boris Becker. According to SRF, her son needs a coach who is always with him, the tennis player’s mother told the Danish TV station TV 2 Sport following her separation from Lüthi.

Becker, who was born in Leimen, worked as a coach for Grand Slam record winner Novak Djokovic (36) from 2013 to 2016. The Serbian tennis player won six Grand Slam titles during this period.