Holger Rune 'developing a reputation' with behaviour but a 'threat' for French Open 2023 – John McEnroe
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Published 04/05/2023 at 09:49 GMT
John McEnroe had his take on the controversial incident at the Madrid Open which saw Holger Rune defeated 7-6(1) 5-7 7-6(5) by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Umpire Carlos Bernardes had a few choice words for Rune removing the mark in a line call. McEnroe believes the young Norwegian is "developing a reputation" and is urging the 20-year-old to carefully consider his actions going forward.
'I'm going to tell you one thing' - Umpire gives Rune advice as Madrid crowd boo Dane
John McEnroe believes Holger Rune is "developing a reputation" with some of his behaviour, but the Dane is a "threat" to challenge at the French Open.
The 20-year-old incurred the wrath of the crowd in the Spanish capital after a controversial line call and the events which followed.
Davidovich Fokina disagreed with a call made by the electronic line call and disputed the decision with umpire Carlos Bernardes and an ATP supervisor.
Rune then removed the ball mark with his foot and was booed at every opportunity from that point onwards in a 7-6(1) 5-7 7-6(5) defeat to the 29th seed.
"I've said this before, I'll say it again, it's hard to be a total a****** and be on the tennis tour, okay? It's possible to do it, but you end up living a very lonely existence," McEnroe said in the Holding Court podcast with Patrick McEnroe.
"He likes to ham it up, he likes to engage the crowd, but he does it in a way that kind of irritates his opponents at times. Certainly, he irritates the crowd. So what's happening is, he's developing a reputation.
"I think Rune will come around. I do think he's a threat to do some serious damage at the French [Open this year]. The guy is a tremendous talent, brings a ton of energy to the court.
"I think he's capable of winning majors. This year, probably not. He still to me is a little bit up and down in the course of matches, but we've seen him play great and big matches.”
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Highlights: Rune overcomes Sinner and a rain delay to reach Monte Carlo final
Bernardes had a few choice words for Rune after the line incident and said at the time: “I'm going to tell you one thing and that's it for the whole match.
"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.”
Rune responded: "I didn't do anything. Did I complain to you one time?"
Rune tweeted on Monday night with his take on the situation. He wrote: "There was a lot of talk about bad behaviour among Spanish fans last night.
"Yesterday, the crowd didn't understand what was going on. You cannot overrule a computer call and it took the umpire and supervisor a very long time to explain this to my opponent.
"They didn't 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 Madrid Open]."
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