Holger Rune blames chair umpire and ATP supervisor for Madrid Open misunderstanding

After bowing out of the 2023 Madrid Open amidst controversy, Holger Rune has clarified that he does not hold any animosity towards Spanish tennis fans and is looking forward to returning next year.

The 20-year-old lost 7-6(1), 5-7, 7-6(5) to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round of the Masters 1000 tournament. The 29th-seeded Spaniard disagreed with the FoxTenn electronic line calling system in the first set and argued with chair umpire Carlos Bernardes and an ATP supervisor

Rune observed from a distance as the discussion went on for over 10 minutes before proceeding to erase the ball mark with his foot. The act urged spectators to boo him throughout the match until he left the Manolo Santana Court.

Later in the day, the Dane took to social media to defuse tensions as he stated that the chair umpire and the ATP supervisor should have communicated their decision to the fans in attendance, who seemed to be unaware of what was going on.

"There was a lot of talk about bad behavior among Spanish fans last night," Holger Rune wrote. "Yesterday, the crowd did not understand what was going on. You cannot overrule a computer call. And it took the umpire and the supervisor a very long time to explain this to my opponent. And they did not bother to communicate this to the crowd."

"Next time, I will take a nap while they discuss. Just want to say that personally, I hold nothing against the Spanish people and I look forward to come back to the Mutua Madrid Open," he added.

Apart from the crowd, chair umpire Bernardes was also annoyed with Rune's behavior and offered him a piece of advice.

“I told you once in Monte Carlo, but that was fine. There are crowds that you cannot control if you do things like that. They will be worse if you keep doing it. If you just play tennis, they don’t do anything else," Bernardes said.

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Holger Rune gets support from Daniil Medvedev amidst criticism in Madrid

Holger Rune

In a press conference after defeating Alexander Shevchenko in the third round of the 2023 Madrid Open, Daniil Medvedev weighed in on Holger Rune receiving flak from tennis fans. The Dane was booed by spectators for erasing the ball mark against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

The third-ranked Russian remarked that he didn't think Rune was wrong and hence, didn't deserve the boos.

"I watched Holger yesterday with the sound off because my daughter was sleeping behind the door. I heard that something happened. But when you get whistled at, it's a matter of whether you deserve it or not. I don't think Holger did anything wrong. So, yes, it's disappointing," Medvedev said.

Medvedev will face qualifier Aslan Karatsev in the fourth round of the tournament, who has beaten Laslo Djere, Botic van de Zandschulp, and Alex de Minaur in his first three matches.