BASEL, Switzerland: Holger Rune performed under pressure for new coach Boris Becker on Tuesday, earning a 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Miomir Kecmanovic to reach the second round of the Swiss Indoors.
The victory counted as revenge for the 20-year-old who lost to the Serb in his opening match as holder at the ATP event in Stockholm last week.
Six-time Grand Slam champion Becker returned from a lightning trip on Tuesday to the ATP event in Vienna in time to watch his young charge’s impressive turnaround in their first in-person match together. “The match was not so good in the beginning, but it ended in the best possible way,” the sixth-ranked Rune said. “I was able to raise my level and find my focus.
I’m super-happy with how I managed my emotions.” Top seed Rune ended with 37 winners as he set up a second-round contest at the St.