Three-time grand slam winner Stan Wawrinka was involved in a frosty post-match handshake in which he told rising star Holger Rune to “stop acting like a baby”.
Rune beat Wawrinka 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) in the first round of the Paris Masters, but it was not a moment during the match that earned any of the headlines.
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As the two came to the net to shake hands after the three-set tussle, Wawrinka leaned over and had some words of advice for the Danish teen.
According to the clip from Eurosport, the Swiss star said: “My advice to you is that you stop acting like a baby on the court, OK?”
Rune had no words of reply but looked somewhat taken aback by Wawrinka’s comments.
However, the 19-year-old’s mother, Aneke, claimed Wawrinka didn’t say such things.
“It is hard to imagine that a sportsman like Stan would have said that,” Aneke told Danish outlet TV2.
“Then he would come across as an uncommonly bad loser. Holger has only mentioned that he wished him well with the results of the past weeks.”
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Although Rune did little during his match against Wawrinka to grab any headlines for his behaviour, the Dane has done more to earn himself a spot on the naughty list rather than the nice one in recent times.
At this year’s French Open, Rune was locked in a war-of-words with Norwegian star Casper Ruud in which the former shouted at the umpire and also told his mother to leave the venue.
Rune also accused Ruud of shouting in his face after the win, a claim the Norwegian immediately shot down and called a “big lie”.
Ruud at the time also had some words of wisdom for his rival as he continues his upward trajectory on the court.
“I don’t know Holger personally, but I have seen on TV that sometimes there can be a lot of drama,” Ruud said.
“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.”
Since his first round victory over Wawrinka, Rune beat No. 10 seed Hubert Hurkacz in the second round and now awaits No. 7 seed Andrey Rublev in the third round as a spot in the quarter finals await.
