Casper Ruud confronts umpire after asking him to step in during tense Madrid Open semi

Casper Ruud approached the umpire during his Madrid Open semi-final

Casper Ruud approached the umpire and claimed he wasn’t doing “enough” to control the crowd in the middle of his semi-final showdown with Francisco Cerundolo. The No. 14 seed grew frustrated when spectators started calling out before his second serves during a tense, 15-minute game in the second set, and asked the chair official to step in. Ruud confronted the umpire again during the changeover, suggesting he could do more to deter Cerundolo’s fans from disrupting his game. But the official could only make a brief announcement. Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT

After receiving a medical time-out early in the match and getting broken, Ruud recovered to take the first set in the first semi-final of the day. But the 26-year-old found himself in a spot of bother early in set two. Ruud was dragged into a marathon service game at 2-2, saving seven break points. But the fans were firmly on Cerundolo’s serve, and the Norwegian star became agitated when some unruly members of the crowd shouted out when he was about to serve. The former world No. 2 walked over to the umpire’s chair and urged him to take action. “Have you ever heard a Norwegian do this before my opponent’s serve? No. How many times can they scream before I can demand something?” he asked. “I’m just asking. Why don’t you answer my question? You say you will deal with it but I am asking a specific question. How many seconds before I can demand a serve or a replay, if he does it again and again and again?”

Casper Ruud was seeking a spot in his first Madrid Open final

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Manuel Messina, the umpire, continued to explain that he could only ask the spectators to stop calling out. Ruud eventually gave in and returned to the baseline as the official made an announcement about the disruption. The 14th seed managed to get out of the tight service game, putting himself ahead at 3-2. But at the changeover, he confronted the official again. “If you go, ‘First serve for Ruud’, hypothetically. I know you can’t. Let’s say you do it, do you think they are gonna do it again? Probably not,” he argued. “I know you’re doing your best but to say please don’t do it again is not enough.” The umpire replied: “If someone is doing on purpose, we can send security to remove the person.” But Ruud didn’t want that, adding: “But then I have to ask for it.”

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