After Calling Roger Federer His Idol, 20-Year-Old ATP Star Lands in Streak of Controversies As He Defends Bizarre Italian Open Move Against Casper Ruud

Holger Rune, the 20-year-old tennis player, has been embroiled in back-to-back controversies for the past few months. He got into a serious argument over a verbal remark with Roger Federer’s pal Stan Wawrinka a few months ago. Following that, a matchup with Casper Ruud in the semifinals took Rune off guard once more. He took a medical break during the game, which raised a lot of questions and might have landed him in more controversy.

Well, that’s not all; a few days ago, he also stated that Roger Federer was his sporting hero. Despite calling Federer, one of the calm and composed players to step on the court, his inspiration, the 20-year-old Danish sensation has gotten involved in back-to-back controversies.

Holger Rune defends himself over the medical time-out controversy 

During the Italian Open semi-final, the 20-year-old requested a medical time-out in the second set, exactly when his opponent, Ruud, was in the lead. However, after the time-out, the Danish tennis star came back stronger. He won the match, creating a conflicting take on the medical time-out. In his post-match conference, the Dane shared his stance on why the time-out was necessary for him.

He said, “I know that there are certainly times in the games when you probably shouldn’t take some medical time. I take it when it’s at the beginning of the set or somewhere. Especially when I have a problem.”

Nevertheless, despite his admiration for Federer, he has a quite different personality from the tennis legend. On the other side, His Norwegian opponent’s service game was interrupted by the timeout due to an apparent shoulder ailment for Rune.

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However, following this, even the Norwegian tennis star expressed his problematic view of the medical time-out choice. Which he felt effectively costed him an ATP Masters final. After returning from the break, the 20-year-old broke Ruud’s rhythm and earned a spot in the championship game.

Casper Ruud, not happy with Rune’s medical time out 

While Rune confidently addressed the MTO he had taken in between sets, Ruud made it obvious in a post-match press conference that tennis needs to address the concern. He particularly mentioned about players taking a medical break before the opponents’ service game.

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He also questioned why, after watching the Dane’s serve, he didn’t think there was a problem because Rune didn’t serve like someone with a shoulder injury. Following the timeout, the world number 4 lost focus and lost a match in which he had complete control.