All the same, Rune has courted controversy throughout his rise up the ATP rankings, starting last spring when he was heard uttering homophobic slurs at the Biella Challenger, and got into a verbal dust-up with Casper Ruud following their Roland Garros quarterfinal in June.
Ruud echoed similar sentiments to Wawrinka at the time, saying, “I don’t know Holger personally, but I have seen on TV that sometimes there can be a lot of drama. He’s young and new, so that’s excusable, but when you’re on a big stage, it might be time to grow up a bit.”
For his part, Rune is yet to acknowledge the interaction on social media, tweeting the match point—with video including the exchange—with the caption, “Grateful.”
What a fight,” he tweeted later. “@stanwawrinka is an incredible fighter and I am grateful be on to the second round.”