After a petty outburst at the Australian Open on Thursday that involved a chair umpire’s microphone, Holger Rune of Denmark escaped a severe penalty. On an eventful day at Melbourne Park, the World No. 8 was eliminated from the second round after suffering a shocking four-set loss to the relatively unknown Frenchman Arthur Cazaux.
Rune lost against World No. 122 7-6 6-4 4-6 6-3, making him the highest seed in the men’s bracket to be eliminated from Melbourne Park. In a match between up-and-coming talent, the less-known 21-year-old Frenchman prevailed over Rune, whose annoyance reached an all-time high during the second set.
When the 20-year-old Dane angrily attacked reputable chair umpire Marijana Veljovic, it was a set and a break point down. Rune struck a microphone that was fixed to the umpire’s seat as he was passing by the officials chair during the change of ends.
Without further ado, Veljovic brought the young Dane back for a conversation before flagging the eighth seed for a code violation due to his dubious behavior. Rune can count himself lucky that the punishment wasn’t worse because, in tennis, any kind of aggressive behavior directed at referees is taken very seriously.
Famously, German player Alexander Zverev was disqualified at the Mexico Open in 2022 for verbally and physically attacking an umpire’s chair with his racquet. Following the incident, Zverev was fined $40,000 and subsequently faced an additional eight-week ban and a $25,000 fine. Both of these penalties were deferred and would only apply if Zverev committed another offense.
The top-seeded Novak Djokovic was also infamously dismissed from the US Open in 2020 after losing a point and unintentionally hitting a female line judge with a ball. Rune’s offense is clearly on the other extreme of the severity spectrum, yet his outburst during the Australian Open may have resulted in a point penalty and punishment.
Holger Rune is annoyed with the chair umpire.
Commentators stated that the incident demonstrated Rune’s lack of mental attention during the game and that he was due a reprimand from the chair umpire. Nick Lester commented, “He had that coming because he essentially hit the umpire’s chair.”
Australian tennis legend John Fitzgerald said it was evidence that the less-favored French team had unsettled his more-favored Danish opponent. Fitzgerald stated, “This is always a sign to the other end that you’ve got your opponent under siege.” It wasn’t really rough, but you can’t touch anything on the umpire’s chair. Look, there wouldn’t really be any consequences for it. There might be, but I doubt it. All you have to do is inform him.
After Cazaux’s unexpected four-set victory, he faced Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor, ranked 28th, in the third round. Griekspoor had defeated another Frenchman, Arthur Fils, in the second round. In other men’s round two action on Thursday, Zverev defeated Lukas Klein in five sets, pulling triumph out of the jaws of defeat. When Zverev served to stay in the match at 5-6 in the fifth set, he was two points from elimination, but he remained composed and defeated the Slovakian qualifier 7-5 3-6 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (10-7).
The campaign of Australian hope Thanasi Kokkinakis came to an end as he lost to the undefeated Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. After winning the Brisbane International, the 13th seed went undefeated in 2024 and used Melbourne Park to showcase his title credentials, packing up the Australian fan favorite.
