Watch: Holger Rune Refuses to Shake Hands with Chair Umpire After Doubles Defeat in Davis Cup

Rune’s defeat forced a deciding rubber, in which Pablo Carreno Busta won in straight sets over Elmer Moeller to complete Spain’s stunning comeback victory. Amongs all the second round qualifiers, Spain was the only home team to win. The other seven teams that will play the Final 8 in Bologna include Italy (hosts and two-time defending champions), Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Czechia, France, and Germany.

Chair Umpire sparks outrage on both sides during Holger Rune and Pedro Martinez’s Davis Cup match

During the Davis Cup match between Holger Rune and Pedro Martinez, the chair umpire provoked outrage on both teams with some of his decisions. He failed to call Rune out for overserving in the third set and penalized both players with two hits to the ball when no hits had occurred. At another point in the match, the 22-year-old returned a service that had gone wide to Martinez’s body. Although the gesture wasn’t intentional, and Rune apologized immediately, part of the Spanish team insisted on a second warning, which would have cost him a point.

In the third set, when Rune was leading 3-2, he requested assistance from his physiotherapist for a massage on his right leg to address cramping. Spain’s Davis Cup captain, David Ferrer, had a very heated exchange with the chair umpire as he felt that Rune was pushing the limits of the rules when taking the medical timeout. The former World No. 1 approached the chair umpire for an explanation, but was unconvinced by the explanation.

Holger Rune will next compete at the Laver Cup

Holger Rune is going through a complicated period in the past few months, with no major results and a dip in the rankings. Rune fell in the opening round of Wimbledon and the second round of the US Open. His only decent performance in the past few months came in the Cincinnati Open, where he reached the quarterfinal.

After the Davis Cup, Rune will return to the courts next week at the Laver Cup in San Francisco, where he will be representing Team Europe. This marks his first appearance in the tournament. Yannick Noah will captain Team Europe, which also includes Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, Jakub Mensik, and Flavio Cobolli in the lineup.