Holger Rune was involved in a heated bust-up with Monte-Carlo Masters umpire Carlos Bernardes just hours after Daniil Medvedev called for him to be sacked. Rune was left frustrated by a dubious line call during his match against Grigor Dimitrov and did not shy away from making his feelings known.
During a tiebreak at the end of the first set, one of Rune’s shots was called out but the Dane clearly felt the officials had made a mistake. He asked Bernardes to check the mark but the decision was left unchanged, leaving Rune furious at what he felt was a clear officiating error.
He continued to argue with Bernardes, stretching his arms wide to illustrate his point that he thought the ball was comfortably within the lines. Bernardes was having none of it, though, and waved away Rune’s protests before the match was eventually able to continue.
Rune went on to claim a sensational 7-6 3-6 7-6 victory over Dimitrov in three hours and 31 minutes to book his place in the quarter-finals of the Monte-Carlo Masters. He will face Jannik Sinner, who breezed past Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets, on Friday for a place in the last four.
His row with the umpire took place just hours after Medvedev clashed with the same official during his defeat to Karen Khachanov. The Russian launched into a verbal tirade following an errant call with the contest locked at 5-5 in the second set.
Medvedev, who was also involved in a bust-up with officials during Tuesday’s match against Gael Monfils, did not hold back as he called for Bernardes to be removed from the clay court circle.
“They don’t know how to referee anymore,” he fumed. “The mark is out. Who will take action? Yesterday, the ball is out, it’s called in. Who will take action? This ball is out there. Who will take responsibility?
“It’s not my responsibility to referee the match. It’s this guy in the glasses. He doesn’t need glasses because he doesn’t see anything, he should not be the referee. It’s behind him, it’s in front of him. It’s a slow ball.
“He’s a bad referee, he should be out of the referee circle. It’s clay, it’s not hard court. It’s out. Who will take responsibility after the match? Answer this, the camera is looking. The ball is out, you can check it.”
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