Tennis News: Holger Rune, Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini

Holger Rune is going to be an interesting watch for the next decade in tennis. He is talented, of course, and plays with a little bit of flare, but unlike Carlos Alcaraz, who is the same age as Rune, and Jannik Sinner, just two years older, Rune still seems a bit immature. And he very likely is not calling the shots of his own career.

One reason to think that Rune has a bit of maturing to do is in his many recent coaching changes (which include his mother not being at every tournament now as well). He brought in Boris Becker and Severin Luthi in the second half of 2023 to help guide him, but now both are gone. Also, both quite oddly had the same reason for parting ways with Rune: Neither had time to coach him. One would assume that a conversation between player and coach before Rune hired Becker and Luthi would have involved talk about upcoming schedules.

Top tennis commentator Mark Petchey said recently the reason Becker and Luthi gave for no longer coaching Rune is bogus, however. Speaking on the Tennis Channel's Inside-In podcast, Petchey did not mince words about the situation. Petchey also blamed the player for the problem.

Holger Rune's coaching issues and Jannik Sinner's words about Matteo Berrettini

According to Petchey, "Holger Rune, that's just bizarre, I mean, it's, you know, to get those guys on board, that's not enough time. I mean, Boris Becker couldn't even travel to Australia for known reasons. It certainly wasn't time, Let's be honest...You know, that was a myth, you know, whatever that mirage was that they said they didn't have the time. Yeah. The fact was it? It hasn't worked and Holger Rune needs to figure it out."

Getting back to Jannik Sinner, he recently spoke about his fellow countryman Matteo Berrettini and said that "it is not right" for tennis fans to forget about Berrettini's successes. Berrettini has been ranked as high as No. 6 on the ATP and is only 27 years old but has struggled with many injuries over the last couple of years. He is still capable of excellence as long as he can consistently remain healthy.

Sinner told Vanity Fair about Berrettini, "He has had many injuries, we hope he returns. It is not right to forget his successes. We Italians are a nice group, we all respect each other even if we are all different." Of course, Sinner and Berrettini did form a pretty incredible doubles team during Italy's Davis Cup run in 2023, so there's that.

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