Holger Rune became the latest star to be booed at the ATP Finals as the umpire was forced to step in and give the crowd an ultimatum.
There was more booing at the ATP Finals on Thursday night as the crowd jeered Holger Rune following an unusual video review incident in his match against Jannik Sinner. The world No 8 tried to challenge his own serve but the umpire claimed he requested the challenge too late and used VAR-style technology to check whether he did raise his arm in time. When his challenge request was dismissed again, the fans continued to boo when Rune tried to serve and the umpire stepped in, giving the fans an ultimatum to make them stop.
Several players have already been booed inside the Pala Alpitour at this week’s ATP Finals. Stefanos Tsitsipas and Taylor Fritz were jeered for injury-related reasons – the Greek star for retiring from his second round-robin match after just three games, and second alternate Fritz for playing an exhibition set while he was struggling physically. And Novak Djokovic felt the wrath of the crowd while facing home hope Sinner.
Rune became another player to face boos while taking on Sinner as they contested the last round-robin match of the Green Group. The 20-year-old came from a set down to force a decider and was serving at 1-1 in the second set when he tried to challenge one of his own serves. But chair umpire Aurelie Tourte said Rune’s challenge came after Sinner hit a huge return, meaning it was too late.
“You ran to that shot and then you challenged,” she responded. With the ATP Finals using video review technology, the world No 8 asked the umpire to replay the moment and see whether he challenged in time. Throughout the time Rune was at the chair speaking to Tourte, there were plenty of jeers and whistles.
