- Young gun Holger Rune guilty of petulant behaviour on court
- Issued a code violation after hitting a microphone mid-match
- Rune, 20, was then beaten in four sets by France’s Arthur Cazaux
World number eight Holger Rune was firmly put in his place by chair umpire Marijana Veljovic following a petulant act involving a microphone on Thursday night at Melbourne Park.
The 20-year-old – who lost in four sets to unheralded Frenchman Arthur Cazaux on Margaret Court Arena – was caught using his racquet to smash a microphone positioned at the back of the umpire’s chair.
Rune then did himself no favours as he walked off during the change of ends early in the second set, pretending nothing had happened.
Veljovic was having none of it, issuing the Danish young gun with a code violation.
‘He had that coming, because he [Rune] effectively hit the umpire’s chair,’ Nick Lester said in commentary.
World number eight Holger Rune was firmly put in his place by chair umpire Marijana Veljovic following a petulant act on Thursday at Melbourne Park
The 20-year-old (pictured, talking to chair umpire Marijana Veljovic) copped a code violation for smashing a microphone at the back of the official’s chair
Aussie tennis great John Fitzgerald felt the bizarre incident showed Rune was rattled by Cazaux.
‘This [type of behaviour] is always an indication to the other end that you’ve got your opponent under pressure,’ he said.
‘You can’t touch anything [on the umpire’s chair], but it wasn’t too vicious. Look, I’m sure there’d be no real penalties for that.
‘Maybe there will be, but I would doubt it. You’ve just got to let him [Rune] know, though.’
Subsequent replay footage showed Rune intentionally raised his racquet to knock off the audio device, as his level of frustration reached boiling point.
Frenchman Arthur Cazaux stunned Rune in four sets to move through to the third round at the Australian Open
He was lucky not to be disqualified, with stars like Alexander Zverev ejected from tournaments for similar offences in the past.
A junior prodigy, Rune officially hit the ATP circuit in 2020 aged just 16.
He has achieved a highest world ranking of four, and won four career titles.
Rune’s best result at a Grand Slam is the quarter-finals at the French Open – twice- and he also reached the final eight at Wimbledon in 2023.
The young gun was the highest men’s seed eliminated from the Australian Open so far following Cazaux’s heroics.
