Rising Danish star Holger Rune claims Casper Ruud walked up to him in the locker and shouted “yes” straight into his face. On Wednesday night, Ruud claimed a four-set win over Rune to progress into the French Open semifinal.
At the net, Rune gave Ruud a cold handshake and it didn’t end there apparently. “I didn’t want to give him a hug after the match. He got a high-five and then I just had to get away from him”, Rune told Danish daily Ekstra Bladet.
“He just went straight up to me and shouted “YEEEESSSS” right up in my face. You can cheer on the court all you want and be happy. I do that myself when I win. But that’s such bad style. Have some respect.”
Ruud’s father called Rune comments ‘pure lie’
When Christian Ruud was asked about Rune’s claims, he described them as a “pure lie.” Rune’s mother Aneke said Ruud’s father wasn’t there at the time of the apparent locker room incident.
“The father was not there when it happened, he had left. It was only the physical trainer or therapist. It was while Holger was waiting for doping control, so the father can not comment on that. One thing is that you shout in my son’s face.
Another thing is that the father is lying to the press,” Rune’s mother Aneke told BT. The cameras caught Rune yelling “leave” toward someone in the crowd. Shortly after, his mother left the players box.
After the match, Rune insisted he didn’t forced his mother to leave the stadium. “First of all, I didn’t tell my mother to leave the stadium,” he said. “That’s not why. It was another person. So that’s wrong.
“It’s of course frustrating to be in my first Grand Slam quarter-final and play so much below my usual level, especially in the first set. I didn’t hit the balls properly at all. That’s frustrating when you want it as bad as I want it.”
