Rune shrugs off double-bounce controversy to set up Ruud rematch
Denmark’s Holger Rune survived a double-bounce controversy and a deciding-set tie-break to squeeze into the French Open quarterfinals, thus setting up a grudge match against Norwegian rival Casper Ruud.
In the latest officiating howler to enliven a fractious tournament, chair umpire Kader Nouni failed to spot that Rune had chipped back a lob from the back of the court on the second bounce.
Rune’s opponent, Francisco Cerundolo, did eventually tap away the slow-moving ball for what might, in other circumstances, have been an easy winner. However, he had already turned to Nouni in supplication while waiting for the lob to come down. As a result, he lost the point on the grounds that he had disrupted play.
This proved to be a significant moment because Cerundolo netted a backhand on the following point to drop his serve. Rune went on to take that set 6-4, and eventually closed out his 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 victory in a marathon 3hr 59min.
As with a similar incident involving British No1 Cameron Norrie last week, the replays were conclusive: Rune, like Norrie, should clearly have lost the point. Unfortunately for Cerundolo, who said that he blamed the umpire more than his opponent, tennis has yet to set up a Var system for these types of calls.
“For the player, it is tough to give the point away,” Cerundolo said. “I understand the tension and you want to win, and what he did. But I am really annoyed with the umpire. They have to do something with cameras, get the chance to look at the point again, because you cannot make that mistake.”
Rune said: “When I was hitting the ball, I didn’t know, I just ran for it. But then, obviously, when I saw it, after the next point on the TV, I saw it was a double bounce. But the point already happened and he called the score.
“So, I felt sorry. Some umpires, they make mistakes. Some for me; some for him. That’s life.”
At just 20, Rune will crack the world’s top five if he beats Ruud tomorrow. And unlike the understated Cerundolo, he has a knack of creating drama wherever he goes.
These two Scandinavians happen to have met in last year’s French Open quarter-finals as well. That was a memorable occasion, not so much for the match itself – which Ruud won in four sets – but for the aftermath, in which Rune claimed Ruud had yelled “Ja!” in his face in the locker room.
Meanwhile, Alexander Zverev continued his strong tournament with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and will next face Argentina’s Tomas Etcheverry, who saw off Yoshihito Nishioka, of Japan, 7-6, 6-0, 6-1 to reach a grand slam quarter-final for the first time.