Holger Rune lashing out at the ATP Tour over poor scheduling and crucial umpiring mistakes during the 2024 Monte-Carlo Masters has fetched him a lot of support.
Rune, who was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the tournament by World No. 2 Jannik Sinner, was visibly upset during the second set when a ball hit by the Italian that was initially called out, was then overturned by the umpire upon checking, leading to a heated discussion between the Dane and the umpire. The ball was later shown to be out.
The 20-year-old also faced a poor scheduling schedule due to rain which caused him to play his Round of 32 and 16 matches against Sumit Nagal and Grigor Dimitrov on the same day.
The ATP Tour posted a clip of one of Sinner’s forehand winners from his match against Rune with the caption,
“May the force be with you”
This tweet irked Rune who lashed out at the ATP Tour for the poor scheduling and unfair umpiring decisions he faced during the tournament.
“Meaning what @atptour…..? Not that you gave me the best conditions in the first place having to play 2 matches the day before ending late , leaving almost no recovery time. Chair Umpire making crucial mistakes and giving wrong warning that disturbed the game. May the force be with you Jesus Christ”
Fans came out in support of Holger Rune and took to X (formerly Twitter) with one of the fans saying how they loved that the Dane spoke up but was also respectful. They also said Rune could be the fans’ golden boy.
“Love that you are speaking up. You remained respectful the whole time. You explained that you didn’t use bad words but they don’t care. Maybe you’re not their golden boy, but you can be ours”
Australian former doubles World No. 1 Paul McNamee also agreed that the ATP Tour playing favorites was out of line.
“Correct… @atptour has no place whatsoever playing favourites … it’s out of line”
Here are some other reactions from fans.
“I’m telling you. Give Holger 2 more years, he’ll fix everything that’s wrong with this tour. He isn’t a PR trained bot who plays it safe. He speaks against injustice and unfair treatment. I can see him becoming POTUS in a few decades.” A fan said
“This is a terrible post absolutely disgusting and disrespectful to other players ! Rune is right here and umpires also should be assessed thoroughly after such bad decisions at crucial moments” Another fan opined
“This happened to Kyrgios about the same age for the same reasons. Relentless bullying by fans, media and social media. Eventually he buckled. Looks like the tennis world is doing the same to Holger. Please learn from history.” A fan urged
“Thank you for saying something. The scheduling made no sense to me. Also, the umpire’s lack of crowd control was disappointing. They all seem worried about the women’s mental health but not the men.” Another fan said
“You were very calm and tried to reason with an unreasonable chair empire. The crowd behavior was uncalled for and awful. The result was manipulated against you. No matter the outcome, you won several of our hearts for standing up to what is right and just. Good luck with the rest of the clay season.” A fan mentioned
“Thank you Holger for speaking out because the treatment of multiple players this week has been atrocious. Umpires can’t make the correct decisions when it comes to giving code violations or calling the ball in or out its ridiculous. Holger, Daniil, and Novak got screwed this week” A fan said
Holger Rune attempting a three-peat at the BMW Open in Munich
Holger Rune will look to win his third consecutive title at the Bavarian International Tennis Championships this year. The Dane won the tournament in 2022 and 2023 defeating Botic van de Zandschulp on both occasions.
Bavarian International Tennis Championships also called the BMW Open will feature a star-studded lineup with the likes of Holger Rune, Taylor Fritz, Alexander Zverev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and many others.
Holger Rune, who is the second seed, has received a bye in the first round due to his seeding. He will begin his campaign against the winner of the first-round match between Daniel Elahi Galan and Camilo Ugo Carabelli. The tournament will begin on April 15.