Holger Rune lost his cool during a shock Shanghai Masters loss to 204th-ranked qualifier Valentin Vacherot and even cursed in the direction of his mother Aneke.
After dominating Vacherot in the first set and taking the opener with a 6-2 scoreline, Rune found himself trailing by an early break in the second set. While the 10th-seeded Dane managed to get the break - force a tie-break and open a 4-3 lead there - he lost the next four points and the set.
Through the opening six games of the third set, no break points were seen. Then, Vacherot opened a 0/30 lead on the Dane's serve and came just two points away from sealing a break.
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What can I do? a frustrated Rune asked his box. Fitness coach Marco Panichi responded: Keep hitting the ball with the right length. Thats it.
The chair umpire proceeded to hit the No. 10 seed with a time violation. And after the Danish tennis star lost the next point and Vacherot earned three consecutive break points, the 22-year-old shouted toward his box: F*** you. F*** you guys. F*** you.
In the box, there was Panichi, coach Lars Christensen, and Rune's mother.
Rune went on to lose to Vacherot in the Shanghai quarterfinal
After the incident, Rune got broken in the seventh game as Vacherot went 4-3 up before serving out for the match in the 10th game and completing a 2-6 7-6 (4) 6-4 win. Vacherot, who plays against Novak Djokovic in the semifinal, is the first qualifier to reach a Shanghai semifinal. Also, he will be a top-100 player for the first time in his career on Monday.
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"It was a lot of emotions, and I already had a lot of emotions. I was a bit going through the emotions, through everything. The first three wins, especially the one in the third round was tough to enjoy because Tomas (Machac) had to retire. But already the round of 16 against Griekspoor was a lot of emotions. It was an unreal moment. This one even more. My first semi-final. Also going from [World No. 204] to No. 92. It was just an unreal moment for me," 26-year-old Vacherot admitted after beating Rune.
