“Put cameras – you cannot do that mistake!” Cerundolo calls for video technology after Rune double-bounce controversy

Francisco Cerundolo has called for the extension of video technology in tennis after a controversial double bounce in his Roland-Garros fourth-round match against Holger Rune.

The incident occurred in the fourth game of the third set, with Rune 2-1 up. Cerundolo hit a forehand past a stranded Rune, with the ball bouncing twice before Rune got a racquet anywhere near it. The Argentine reacted accordingly, expecting the point to be awarded to him, but umpire Kader Nouni did not; instead, he penalised Cerundolo, apparently for stopping play.

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Afterwards, Cerundolo described the incident as “unbelievable”, and pointed to the number of other sports that were using video technology to clarify such blatant errors.

“I don’t know why in tennis we don’t use it,” he said to journalists. “We have Hawkeye to check the bounces and you don’t have anything to check double bounces or if you touch the net or if you pass the racquet to the other side of the court.”

👀 The umpire misses a clear double-bounce
😬 The ball kid steps onto the court at the same time
🤯 Cerundolo ends up being broken at the end of the game

𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐲 in the match between Holger Rune and Francisco Cerundolo! 😲#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/QspfKU3r1V

— Eurosport (@eurosport) June 5, 2023

And he expressed his anger with the official.

“It was unbelievable because it was a clear double bounce. I was mad with the umpire because he has to see it. He has to, I don’t know, check it again and he didn’t do anything, and I don’t know, I think it’s his fault.”

He was less harsh on his opponent. “For the player, it’s tough to give the point away. I don’t know if he was sure [it] was double bounce or not, but it was a tough moment.

“It’s not good that he didn’t give me the point, but I understand what, I don’t know, the tension, and you want to win, and what he did, but I’m really mad with the umpire because they have to do something. Put cameras. Get the chance to look again [at] the point because you cannot do that mistake.”

Rune: ‘This is sports’

Rune was circumspect when discussing the incident in his own press conference.

“Yeah, so when I was hitting the ball, I didn’t know, I just ran for it. But then obviously when I saw it, after he did call it, I saw it after the next point on the TV, and I saw it was a double bounce. But the point already happened and he called the score.

“So I felt sorry. Sorry for him. Yeah, I mean, then I managed to break him. I hold serve. Then after he broke me it was close again.

“You know, this is tennis. This is sports. You know, some umpires, they make mistakes. Some for me; some for him. That’s life.”

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