The public outrage in Monte Carlo was deafening. Full of fans whistling and shouting against the Dane Holger Runewho before leaving the Rainier III Track repeated the gesture in the stands that had led to common cause against the Scandinavian.
That turned into a pressure cooker more typical of a Davis Cup tie in unfriendly territory. The public took him as a ‘bad boy’, he allied himself with the always correct Italian Jannik Sinner, a silent witness to the various ballots in which his rival starred. Even he was the only one to say goodbye to Rune with applause.
When the Dane has done all he can to warm the sun. He is up for it, but he also has a reputation for trying to unbalance his rival with tricks at important moments.
The truth is that Holger Rune almost profited from the chaos, losing, yes, but only after scraping a set that gave him back an ‘in extremis’ match. He may have more, but ahead of him is the best tennis player of the season so far, a Jannik Sinner which added its 25th victory with a loss.
The sinner won 6-4, 6-7 (6) and 6-3 in 2h.40′. He repeated the semifinals in 2023, avenging a loss in the same round last year against Rune, allowing him to retain the world No. 2, topping Carlos Alcaraz by several weeks. This Saturday, a duel against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.
At 4-6, 5-5, 0-30, Rune received two consecutive warnings from the chair umpire, the French Damien Dumusois. The first is for willfully delaying the execution of the service. The Dane stopped shamelessly. He did not like the second warning, for unsporting behaviour. Facing boos from the audience, Rune faced the court with a gesture of continue talking, continuing, I don’t care. He performed it imitating a mouth opening and closing. As he would in conclusion.
He showed the ATP supervisor, further disturbing the crowd’s mood, singing trying to silence Rune’s complaints. He responded by chaining five points in quick succession to build up a 0-40 lead, reaching a ‘tieberak’ where a controversial ball re-ignited the stands, which had already been broken by ‘ Jannik, Jannik’.
The sinner, unmoved, responds to the victory of this age. Rune left Monte Carlo as enemy number one, where his behavior was disliked.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
