Holger Rune has been criticized for his on-court behavior in his match against Jannik Sinner at the 2023 ATP Finals by former tennis ace Paolo Bertolucci.
World No. 8 Rune faced No. 4 Sinner in their last group stage clash, as the Dane attempted to try and clinch the remaining semi-final spot. Prior to this, he lost to Novak Djokovic in three sets before being declared the winner of his second tie against Stefanos Tsitsipas after the Greek player retired just three games in.
Therefore, as Djokovic went on to lose his second tie against Sinner, it was all still to play for on the last day of matches in the Green Group. Firstly, Rune needed the World No. 1 to drop a set in his tie against first alternate Hubert Hurkacz, which he proceeded to do. This put Sinner into the semi-finals and meant that Rune needed to win in order to finish ahead of Djokovic and advance at the tournament.
The 20-year-old lost the first set against the home player but put himself in with a chance of victory by winning the second. However, Sinner pushed back and crushed Rune's hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals with a three-set win, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4. During the match, Rune was visibly frustrated, which did not go down well with Italian fans or Italian commentator and former tennis player Bertolucci.
"I don't like his attitude. He always argues, he's arrogant. If you are 4-0 down against Sinner you have to be humble and have a respectful attitude. He always looks at his corner and doesn't know how to remedy Jannik's domination, he's hitting him with balls," the 72-year-old said.
Rune has been known for his on-court attitude before, but he was more composed in the press conference after match as he analyzed his defeat and explained the pressure he felt during the clash: "I always lost my first set when I played against Jannik Sinner. At the beginning I was a bit nervous, then I managed to react. He played calmly... he had nothing to lose and maybe this relaxed him too much during the match, I don't know.
"There was a lot of pressure on me instead, I tried to manage it in the best way possible but in the end I was close but not quite at his level. I think the difference both with him and with Nole is that I didn't take advantage of the break points, and this decided the match."
Great battle yesterday. Super close as always . Jannick did amazing this season. Novak won 3 slams and did final in the last . We have the right number 1 and 2 in our group moving into the finals. Good luck to you both. I will come back stronger next year 🦾 #NittoATPFinals
