'You're an absolute joke' - Holger Rune vents at umpire Mohamed Lahyani over disputed line call against Novak Djokovic
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Updated 17/05/2023 at 18:37 GMT
“You’re an absolute joke man,” Holger Rune vented at umpire Mohamed Lahyani after a disputed line call went against him. Rune was up 40-30 on his serve when Lahyani ruled that a Djokovic shot on the baseline was in. Rune argued it was out but to no avail and was then broken. He continued to argue with the umpire afterwards before the match was suspended due to rain. Rune won in three sets.
Highlights: Rune beats defending champion Djokovic at Italian Open
Holger Rune was involved in a confrontation over a disputed line call with umpire Mohamed Lahyani during his Italian Open quarter-final win over Novak Djokovic.
Rune made an impressive start to the match as he won the opening set 6-2 against the world No. 1.
But a contentious moment midway through the second set looked like it could knock Rune off course.
With Rune up 40-30 on serve, he stopped play as he thought a shot from Djokovic on the baseline had landed out.
The tournament does not use an electronic line-calling system like many on tour so umpire Lahyani came down from his chair to check the mark.
He ruled it in, to the disbelief of Rune, who after arguing his case with the umpire, slammed his towel down in frustration.
As rain started to fall, Rune’s mood was not improved as Djokovic played his best rally of the match to earn a break point. Rune then missed a smash to give Djokovic a 4-2 lead.
Rune addressed the umpire at the change of ends and also called for a medical time out.
“You’re an absolute joke man,” Rune told the umpire.
"Do you get punished when you make a mistake? Because when we make a mistake we get a fine. Please respect the players."
Serena Williams’ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who is with Rune’s coaching team, appeared to tell the 20-year-old to calm down.
But Rune was unrelenting and also argued with the supervisor.
“It’s always the umpire who makes me look like the bad guy,” said the world No. 7.
Rune also brought up his Swiss Indoors Basel final loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime when he had accused Lahyani of making a “huge mistake” over an incident with an advertising board.
Eventually the situation calmed down and Rune managed to put the incident behind him to get back on serve.
Perhaps fortunately for Rune he was not able to see that a Hawk-eye replay of the contested call showed that the ball had indeed been out.
The match was suspended for an hour due to rain and when it resumed Djokovic broke to win the second set.
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