Where Holger Rune goes, controversy almost invariably follows.
In the past two months alone, Rune has been accused of faking injury in Munich, barracked in Madrid after erasing a disputed ball mark from the clay, and widely condemned for failing to acknowledge a double-bounce at Roland Garros.
Few, then, will have been surprised when the Danish second seed once again found himself in the eye of the storm at Queen’s Club, where he battled to a 6-4, 7-5 win over Lorenzo Musetti after taking a medical timeout that blew the Italian’s challenge fatally off course.
On this occasion, however, Rune may have been a man more sinned against than sinning. There was a notable drop-off in the velocity of the 20-year-old’s serve after he received treatment on his right wrist at 4-1 down in the first set, and while sceptics will have noted that the Dane’s delivery regained pace as he served for the set, his average service speeds for the match were down by roughly 40mph compared with the previous two rounds.
Unsurprisingly, Rune bridled at a reporter’s suggestion that he did not appear to be injured.
“I didn’t put a serve in [at full pace at] the start of the match because I felt my wrist,” replied Rune. “So I don’t know what you see, but that’s how I felt. If you’re in my body, you can say something like that. But if you’re not, you shouldn’t say something like that.”
It is not the first time Rune has been accused of deploying a medical timeout as a tactical weapon at a key juncture in a match. He faced similar allegations following his quarter-final win over Casper Ruud last month in Rome, where the Norwegian led by a set and a break only to lose his rhythm and his way after Rune received treatment on a shoulder problem. Yet the numbers appeared to support the Dane’s protestations here, and in truth Musetti’s problems were largely of his own making, the 21-year-old paying the price for his passivity as he failed to drive home the early advantage.
Musetti did, however, drive home a meaty overhead at 2-2 in the second set, striking Rune on the back as the Dane struggled in vain to take evasive action. Despite firing a short ball straight at Musetti earlier in the rally, Rune made his displeasure plain, directing a death stare at his opponent, who was quick to apologise.
The flashpoint, which recalled a similar incident between Cameron Norrie and Novak Djokovic in Rome last month, seemed to inspire Rune, who went on to save two set points as he sealed a place in a grass-court semi-final for the first time in his career.
“Of course, he can do what he wants,” said Rune. “I mean, it’s not the best thing to do, for sure. But again, it is legal. He can do what he wants, he can hit the ball where he wants to.
“For sure, this just gave me fire in the belly to beat him even more. I’m super happy to manage to beat him in two sets. It feels good. I’m in the semi-final; he’s not. So I’m happy.”
Such controversies tend to obscure Rune’s appetite for a scrap, a quality he will need if he is to maintain his encouraging trajectory on a surface where he had never won a match before this week. The Dane will face Alex de Minaur in the last four after the Australian seventh seed saw off Adrian Mannarino, the French world No 46, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
In the upper half of the draw, top seed Carlos Alcaraz will face Sebastian Korda of the US, who defeated Britain’s Cameron Norrie 6-4, 7-6 (7-1). Alcaraz, who will regain the world No 1 ranking if he claims his first title on grass, recovered from 3-0 down in the second set to beat Grigor Dimitrov.
“This was my best match so far, and I’m going to say my best match on grass,” said Alcaraz of his 6-4, 6-4 win over the former Wimbledon semi-finalist.