'It's not good for his soul' - Reaction to war of words between Holger Rune and Casper Ruud at French Open
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Updated 02/06/2022 at 14:35 GMT
Speaking to Eurosport, seven-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander and Alex Corretja have had their say on the escalating war of words between Holger Rune and Casper Ruud and their families in Paris. "It’s interesting," Wilander said. "There are a lot of things going on in the locker room. We don’t really know exactly what happened. We have no idea what went on and we have to trust Holger Rune."
'We have to trust Rune' - Wilander on 'fiery and emotional' exchanges with Ruud
Eurosport experts Mats Wilander and Alex Corretja have given their reactions to the ongoing spat between Holger Rune and Casper Ruud at the French Open.
Rune slammed Ruud for apparently showing him a lack of respect following their fiery quarter-final match at Roland-Garros, as a war of words between the two Scandinavian tennis stars also embroiled their parents.
Rune claimed that Ruud gloated in his face after winning 6-1 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 on the night, with the Norwegian now taking on Marin Cilic in the semi-finals on Friday. The match also featured a frosty handshake between the two men.
"The team is really nice and sweet, but then he [Ruud] goes straight to me and shouts 'JAAA' straight up in my face,” Rune told Ekstra Bladet.
“I thought ‘what the hell are you doing?’. You just do not do that. You can cheer as much as you want on the court, I do it myself when I win. But that's just a lack of class. He should have had more respect.”
Rune’s claims have since been denied by Ruud’s camp, with his father Christian telling Eurosport: “It is a simply a lie from Holger. It is nothing more to talk about because it is a pure lie. Our focus is now on the match on Friday against Cilic.”
In response, Rune's mother Aneke told BT: "The father was not there when it happened, he had left. It was only the physical trainer or therapist. It was while Holger was waiting for doping control, so the father can not comment on that. One thing is that you shout in my son's face. Another thing is that the father is lying to the press."
Speaking to Eurosport, seven-time Grand Slam champion Wilander has his say on the escalating war of words between the pair and their families in Paris.
"It’s interesting," Wilander said. "There are a lot of things going on in the locker room. We don’t really know exactly what happened.
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'Said it all!' - Ruud not impressed with Rune's reaction after quarter-final
"My memory goes back to when Ivan Lendl beat Mikael Penfors in Tokyo in the finals I believe, and Mikael Penfors is destroyed in the locker room. He played well and he lost 6-1 6-2. Ivan comes in and looks at Mikael and says 'I had you running like a dog, didn’t I?' So there are a lot of things that go on in the locker room. We don’t really know what happened but Casper Ruud is kind of the big brother in Scandinavia right now and he won the match.
"Holger Rune is very emotional on the court. Again, we have no idea what went on and we have to trust Holger Rune. But that’s what happens, you are fiery, even though we are Scandinavians, we are fiery.
"It’s behind private doors, it’s like a family in the locker room, and he speaks a Danish that I don’t even understand - he doesn’t understand my Swedish - so I have no idea. He asked me to speak English to him in an interview so I think we need to slow down the whole social media train that we are trying to accelerate and turn this into some kind of scandal story as Holger Rune is a great player with a great attitude.
"It’s over and most probably Casper Ruud is trying to teach him something of a lesson in the locker room or on the court, whatever. Holger Rune is going to be a better player because of this match.”
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'He needs to control his emotions! - Corretja and Henman on Rune shouting at box
Corretja added: “He [Rune] will learn, he’s young, and there are a lot of emotions in his mind. It’s his first time in the quarter-finals, he probably thought he could win that match so he was disappointed at the end, so we need to give him a little bit of a break and say ‘okay, I think Holger, you’re great, you play unbelievable, you have such a great future in front of you but it is good to go into the locker room and not have any fights with anyone'.
"Maybe the only one is Casper, but I don’t think it’s good for him or good for his soul, his spirit. It’s not about the image of the outside, it’s himself, so just give him time and he will understand how the world works.”
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