Popular Tennis Parody Account Down After Holger Rune's Complaints

Thursday, 31 July 2025 at 18:23

byJordan Reynolds

A parody account on X (formerly Twitter) that has gained some mainstream attention is no longer active after Holger Rune expressed disdain for those who ran it.

The account was called Tennis Centel. It emerged after a basketball version, known as NBA Centel, proved popular on X. It currently has over 703,000 followers and posts multiple times daily.

Tennis Centel's account caused a divisive response. Many found its content hilarious and thought there was nothing wrong with posting fake stories that are obviously untrue if the intent is to be funny.

Nick Kyrgios, who recently made shocking comments about the possibility of Novak Djokovic retiring, was among those who enjoyed the account and sometimes responded directly to the content that it created.

Kyrgios found it particularly funny when Tennis Centel fooled serious broadcasters into believing its stories. For example, the Tennis Channel read a fake announcement by Andy Murray about Novak Djokovic that the Centel account created.

However, Centel's activities spread beyond creating fake stories. It began a feud with the journalist Ben Rothenberg, criticizing him for some of his past activities. The journalist derided the account as bad for tennis.

Rune seems to be the man responsible for stopping the account in its tracks. Recently, WTA star Veronika Kudermetova revealed she told the Dane she was married when he messaged her on social media.

That story led to Centel's parody post about Rune looking for love with a mature woman. Rather than ignoring it or just seeing the funny side, the 22-year-old encouraged his fans to report Centel and accounts like it.

"Too much fake info here on X. Please do report accounts faking like this."

No one related to the Centel account has confirmed the reason for becoming inactive, but the fact that it happened so swiftly after Rune told his fans to report the account makes it the most plausible explanation.

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Rothenberg celebrated the account's demise. Responding to a fan who liked its humor and the attention it brought to tennis, the American journalist slammed the account for spreading false information.

"It was objectively not “hilarious” and it definitely didn’t bring any meaningful or useful “attention” to tennis. All it did was make up plausible fake news and quotes to spread misinformation and potentially harm players’ reputations. Good riddance."

Kyrgios has not commented about the situation, but undoubtedly disagrees with Rothenberg, particularly since the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up has expressed disdain for the journalist several times.

Although Centel is gone for now, do not rule out its return. The NBA version disappeared for a while before coming back and building an even more significant fanbase with its posts that entertain hundreds of thousands.

Many players were probably aware of Centel since most are active on social media to some degree. It would be interesting to know who found Centel funny and which players did not.

Hatred and negativity on social media can impact players' mental health. Eugenie Bouchard, who retired at the ongoing 2025 Canadian Open, is among those to speak openly about her mental health struggles.