Holger Rune refused to shake the chair umpire's hand following a Davis Cup thriller loss and later stated that he did so because he felt the umpire "did not do a good job."
On Sunday, Denmark failed to reach the Davis Cup Final 8 in one of the most brutal ways possible. After opening a 2-0 lead against Spain in Marbella, the Danes were also up by a set in the doubles rubber before losing.
When Rune took to the court to play Pedro Martinez, the expectation was that the world No. 11 would handle the job. But the top-ranked Danish male tennis player blew a 5-3 third-set lead and a match point as 67th-ranked Martinez pulled off a 6-1 4-6 7-6 (3) win to force a deciding rubber, in which Pablo Carreno Busta defeated Elmer Moeller to complete Spain's stunning comeback win.
After the match was over, Rune shook hands with Martinez and with members of the Spanish team - but not with the chair umpire.
Rune: The umpire clearly didn't deserve it with so many mistakes
"He doesnt deserve that. Its pretty clear with so many mistakes. I dont think it was very good work. So I dont think he deserved it," the 22-year-old told Danish tennis journalist Nicholas Albek.
Rune also hit out at the Spanish crowd as he thought they were crossing the line in certain moments.
"I just thought that theres a difference between Danish and Spanish manners. When we played against Serbia, the atmosphere was also absolutely amazing, but there was clearly more respect. Theres a bit of a difference in upbringing. There were some things today that were a bit unsportsmanlike, but Ive experienced worse. That wasnt what decided the match," Rune said.
