It was not to be for Denmark in the Davis Cup qualifier against Spain, losing 3-2 despite coming out on top in the first two matches. The contest has been overshadowed by the attitude of Holger Rune, who refused to shake the hand of the umpire and cursed at the crowd.
It was a hugely important set of matches for both countries, with the winners confirming their place in the Davis Cup finals in Bologna at the backend of the year. Denmark have never made the finals of the event, and were ultimately so close to making it for the first time, but painfully came up short against the six-time champions, who did not have Carlos Alcaraz or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina involved.
Tensions crop up in the fourth rubber
Representing your country is one of the greatest honours you can achieve in sport, but the stakes are so high. This was a prime example in this Davis Cup tie, with Rune looking to confirm his country’s place in Bologna.
Denmark stormed out to the perfect start. Rune got the Danes off with a straight sets victory over Pablo Carreno Busta, before world number 102 Elmer Moller overturned a set deficit to overcome Jaume Munar to leave Denmark one away.
They had the chance to nick it in the doubles match, with August Holmgren and Johannes Ingilsden taking the first set 6-2 against the Spanish duo Pedro Martinez and Munar. However, they could not clinch the final set they needed to progress from qualifying, as the Spaniards won the final two sets 6-3, 6-2 to keep them in it.
The Danes had to rely on their star Rune to seal the tie. The world number 11 faced off against the world number 52 Martinez in the fourth rubber, with the match catching the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Spanish captain and former Roland Garros finalist David Ferrer was left extremely furious from the actions of the young Dane, believing he cursed and mistreated the Spanish home crowd, and was astounded he did not receive any form of punishment.
Ferrer went to the supervisor and said: “Listen to me. In the first set, he cursed the fans, and then he threw two balls, and you didn’t even call a penalty. And now I’m encouraging him, and this guy comes to me to say something. Don’t even think about saying anything to me! I’m speaking to you in Spanish because you understand me perfectly. When he hits that ball, it has to be a penalty ball, and he said ‘f*** off’ to the crowd.’”
Ferrer would get the last laugh in this debacle. Rune would get back into the tie, forcing a deciding set before squandering a match point. Martinez stuck with him and managed to come out on top in the tiebreaker to keep the Spanish hopes alive.
The 22-year-old was exasperated at the umpire Roberto Ranieri, and after the match refused to shake his hand, claiming he made ‘so many mistakes’.
“It’s pretty clear with so many mistakes,” Rune said to SpilXperten. “I don’t think it was very good work. So I don’t think he deserved it. I just thought that there’s a difference between Danish and Spanish manners. When we played against Serbia, the atmosphere was also absolutely amazing, but there was clearly more respect. There’s a bit of a difference in upbringing. Honestly, I actually think the atmosphere is best in Barcelona. There were some things today that were a bit unsportsmanlike, but I’ve experienced worse. That wasn’t what decided the match.”
The deciding match was won by Carreno Busta in straight sets against Moller to break Danish hearts and climax a dramatic Davis Cup tie.
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