WATCH: Ruud Blasts Umpire Over Lack Of Competence After Rude Fan Incident
NewsFriday, 02 May 2025 at 18:40
Casper Ruud wasn't happy about the lack of competence displayed by umpire Manuel Messina in his semi-final match at the 2025 Madrid Open.
Ruud was taking on Francisco Cerundolo in the semi-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid. The Argentinian fans are some of the most passionate fans in the world, and that was on full display in this match.
One of the fans tried helping Cerundolo by disturbing Ruud before his serves. Shortly before the Norwegian player was about to serve, the fan shouted or whistled, trying to disrupt Ruud's rhythm.
Ruud won the first set of the match, and the incident happened at 2-2 in the second set when the Norwegian served at deuce. After the point, he went to consult the umpire, who said that there wasn't any policy regarding such behavior.
"There is no policy. It’s not polite. I’ll make an announcement, not to scream."
However, Ruud said that just making an announcement wouldn't be enough. He wanted to know at what point the umpire would give him his first serve enough if the fan continues to disturb him over and over again, but the umpire never responded to his question.
"How many times can they scream before I can demand something? I'm just asking, why can’t you answer the question? You just say, 'I’ll deal with it.' But I’m asking a specific question. How many seconds before I can demand, let’s say, another serve or a replay? If he does it again and again and again… nothing."
Ruud then referenced a controversial moment from Aryna Sabalenka's recent match. During her match against Marta Kostyuk, while down 4-5 in the second-set tie-break, the Belarusian player missed her first serve, but refused to serve her second serve, as she protested that the rain that was falling was impacting her.
The umpire in that match, Jennifer Zhang, initially told Sabalenka to keep playing, but after the WTA World No. 1 player tossed the ball again, she said that she just couldn't serve. Eventually, she was given her first serve back, as the play had to be suspended. That made her opponent, Kostyuk, understandably furious.
However, Ruud was told that because it was the weather that impacted Sabalenka in that situation, it was an incomparable incident. The Norwegian wasn't happy about the umpire not being able to give him any specific answer.
"It's funny you can never give any clear any answer to anything when we ask something."
Ruud then continued venting his frustration during the changeover. He suggested that if the umpire gave him the first serve again, the fan would lose motivation to continue with such behavior.
"If you call 'first serve for Ruud,' hypothetically... I know you can't... but let’s say you do it. Do you think he’s gonna do it again? Probably not. I know you do your best, but just saying 'Please don’t do it again' is not enough. Some fans are too loud."
"Let’s say you were stricter, they wouldn’t do it again. You just cut it right away. I know it’s tough for Francisco because he didn’t do anything. But the fan is cheering for him. If you give me a first serve, he’s never gonna do it again. So there would be no problem."
The umpire then explained to Ruud that if the fan continues to display such behavior, he can ask the security to escort them out of the stadium.
"If someone is doing it on purpose, we can send security or remove them. What I heard was a couple of times. We cannot go into the mind of the people."
Ruud eventually forgot the incident and beat Cerundolo in two sets, 6-4, 7-5, to reach the final at the 2025 Madrid Open. He will challenge the winner of the match between Jack Draper and Lorenzo Musetti for the title.
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