Holger Rune rehires Patrick Mouratoglou to replace Boris Becker as head coach

There’s a new coach in Holger Rune’s camp. Well, not exactly.

On Wednesday, the Dane revealed that he was reuniting with Patrick Mouratoglou for another stint, replacing the recently-departed Boris Becker and Severin Luthi. Rune has been a long-time attendee of the Frenchman’s academy, dating back to his days as a 13-year-old “Champseeder."

“Hello @pmouratoglou. Looking forward to new victories together with you and the team,” the world No. 7 wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

The two previously worked together from October 2022 to April 2023, a period that saw Rune capture his first Masters 1000 title at Paris-Bercy (where he beat five Top 10 players in a row). Their “full-time collaboration” then ended following the Sunshine Double, with Rune declaring, “I will take all your advice with me onwards. See you soon at the academy.”

But a quick change of heart saw Mouratoglou back in Rune’s box for the clay-court season alongside then co-head coach Lars Christensen. That arrangement held up until after the US Open, where following a winless stretch on North American hard courts, Rune and Mouratoglou seemingly parted ways for good.

In October 2023, Becker came on board in helping Rune qualify for his first Nitto ATP Finals. The trial basis was extended, with Luthi joining two months later going into the 2024 season. But the new-look team soon disbanded following Rune’s second-round loss at the Australian Open, first with Luthi exiting and Becker following suit a week later.

Mouratoglou comes with his own baggage and questions, particularly in the aftermath of former charge Simona Halep's positive test for a banned substance in 2022.

Halep tested positive for roxadustat after the 2022 US Open and was later charged with a second violation for alleged irregularities in her athlete biological passport. The two-time major winner is currently awaiting the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after appealing the four-year ban she was handed.

Mouratoglou has staunchly defended Halep as clean in statements since, and in November 2023, he claimed a degree of responsibility for his former client's doping charges, saying in part that the staff of his academy provided Halep with a supplement that they claim was tainted with the aforementioned banned substance.

“There is no way to know it, but I feel responsible for what happened because it’s my team, so me basically me, who brought her this collagen."

Rune previously pulled out of this week’s ATP 250 event in Los Cabos. He is entered to play the 500-level tournament in Acapulco next week ahead of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

“I always believed in his potential,” Mouratoglou wrote on Instagram. “He has high goals and so do I for him. It is the start of a new adventure.”