“This is a sh*t show” – Holger Rune fumes over confusing UTS rule during match against Andrey Rublev in London
In his recent match against Andrey Rublev in London, Holger Rune lost his cool over a UTS rule that confused him.Rune and Rublev squared off against each other in the semifinal of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) event on Sunday, December 17, inside the Exhibition Centre London. The former won the contest in straight quarters quite comfortably and moved into the final.
The second quarter, however, saw a close fight between the two. Rune eventually managed to edge past the Russian 12-11 to go 2-0 up in the tie. While talking to the announcers after the second quarter had concluded, the Dane expressed his displeasure over a ‘time-violation’ by Rublev.
“The umpire said ‘Let’s play!’ Then he has 15 seconds, 15 seconds go out then you get a warning and then what? I mean, I don’t understand this rule. This is a sh*t show.”
The rule in conversation empowers the chair umpire to penalize a player for taking more than 15 seconds in between the serves. After the first violation, the player receives a warning but the ensuing faults result in point penalties.
Holger Rune locked horns with home-favorite Jack Draper in the final a few hours later on Sunday. He looked set to win the trophy after securing the opening quarter but Draper raised the bar and swept the next three quarters to end as a champion.
Holger Rune: “Boris Becker is a very good man, he already made a plan with my fitness coach and my analyst”
Holger Rune recently opened up about his fresh association with former tennis player Boris Becker. He roped in Becker for the role of head coach in October 2023 after splitting with Patrick Mouratoglou.
“I think he is very exciting. I think he is bringing a lot of mentality and a few technical things. But more mentality like how you can handle the big moments better and how to save your energy in the matches, to do things mentally better,” Rune said on the Advantage Connors podcast.
The World No. 8 further praised Becker’s commitment to his duties saying:
“He is a very good man, he already made a plan with my fitness coach and my analyst and what we needed to improve, and he’s extremely involved already. We had this test period during the tournaments.”
As a player, Boris Becker won a total of six Grand Slam titles between 1983 and 1999. The German also carries the experience of coaching Novak Djokovic through six triumphs at the Majors.