Holger Rune doesn't like to be labeled a 'bad boy of tennis' but sometimes the circumstances make it seem that way.
Over the past few weeks, the young Dane was called the game's new antagonist and more and more the tag of a 'bad boy' was mentioned with his name. However, Rune doesn't see himself as a 'bad boy' and doesn't like to be labeled in that way.
The 20-year-old is just passionate about tennis and he can get angry sometimes too. The most recent incident came at the 2023 Italian Open in his quarterfinal match against Novak Djokovic. Rune stopped the rally as he thought the ball was out and prompted the umpire to check it.
However, umpire Mohamed Lahyani saw the ball in. As the replay later showed, he wasn't correct so Rune was fuming as he clearly saw the ball out. He told the umpire what he thinks about the call, and among other things, he also mentioned that players get punished for their mistakes by the ATP Tour, while the umpires usually don't face the same punishment.
"Because when we make a mistake, we get a fine, but you don't. And again it's umpire that makes me look like a bad guy, it's always the umpire that makes me look like a bad guy."
Rune also touched on the 'bad guy' label. He knew that the footage of him being angry will go around the world and that once again, he may be portrayed as the angry player who is fuming at the umpire.
However, it's important to mention that in heated moments like that, it may be difficult to control one's emotions and so Rune's statement comes as a good reminder of the fact that the athletes are only people too and that his outburst maybe really only shows his passion rather than rebelling or being a 'bad boy'.
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