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Holger Rune‘s failure to call a double-bounce on himself in his fourth round Roland-Garros clash against Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo wasn’t cheating, but was “unsportsmanlike”, according to Aussie tennis legend Wally Masur.
With the match tied at a set apiece, on-serve and at deuce in the fourth game of the third set, Cerundolo played a skidding forehand that bounced for a second time a split second before Rune got his racquet to it.
Cerundolo apologised to Rune for the skidding ball. The umpire – having clearly not seen the second bounce, subsequently called for hindrance for talking in a point, handing the point to Rune.
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Speaking on Stan Sports’ Grand Slam Daily, Masur said players usually follow an unwritten rule in those kind of situations.
“It’s the umpire’s call … (but) there’s an unwritten rule that if the ball clips you, clips your racquet or a double-bounce, you call it on yourself – a bit like a batsman who snicks and walks,” he said.
The decision gave Rune the advantage, and he broke Cerundolo with the next point.
“I wouldn’t call it cheating, but it’s not great sportsmanship and it obviously got under the skin of Cerundolo.”
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Following the match, Rune claimed he didn’t realise the ball had bounced a second time until replays were shown on the big screen.
“When I was hitting the ball, I didn’t know – I just ran for it,” he said.
Double bounce call causes controversy
“I saw it after the next point on the TV … but the point already happened and (the umpire) called the score.”
Usually once a chair umpire calls the score, the decision is final and the game must move on.
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“I feel sorry for him … This is tennis. This is sports. Some umpires make mistakes. Some for me, some for him. That’s life,” Rune added.
Rune went on to win the match 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7), and will play Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals on Wednesday night (AEST).
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