Tennis world erupts after epic Holger Rune outburst: 'Absolute joke'

Youngster Holger Rune stunned the tennis world after he defeated Novak Djokovic in Rome although the match was interrupted after the young Danish star let rip at the chair umpire over controversial call. Rune admitted he wasn't afraid of the Djokovic challenge in the Italian Open quarter-final and it showed as the 20-year-old won 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.

Rune showed why he will head into Roland Garros as one of the favourites as he offered very little breathing room to a lacklustre Djokovic in the first set. But it was in the second set where the momentum flipped after the often fiery youngster lost his cool.

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A looping Djokovic shot appeared to go long on serve at 2-3, but it was called good. Rune stopped the rally to call down the chair umpire to correct the call.

However, chair umpire Mohamed Lahyeni checked the ball mark and claimed it was good. Hawkeye later showed the ball went long.

Rune was clearly frustrated and let it boil over as Djokovic broke after the 20-year-old missed a straight forward overhead smash. The crowd started to get behind Djokovic, which also clearly got to Rune as he unleashed a tirade at the chair umpire in the change of ends.

"It's always the umpire that makes me look like the bad guy. Always," Rune said in his outburst. He lated claimed 'You're an absolute joke', which could see Rune in hot water.

Djokovic appeared bemused during the exchange as he looked around in astonishment as the scenes unfolded. Many fans took aim at Rune for his behaviour, which has become a pattern for the 20-year-old early on in his career.

While others showed sympathy for Rune in such a tight battle with the World No.1. Many questioned why technology wasn't being used on clay court tournaments after a number of contentious calls have caused chaos this week in Rome.

Novak Djokovic lets rip at chair umpire

The chair umpire also garnered the wrath of Djokovic in the third game of the deciding set. Lahyeni announced the 15-30 score in Italian, prompting Djokovic to start his service rhythm. Lahyeni then announced the score in English, before giving Djokovic a time violation.

The World No.1 erupted and called out the umpire for what he believed was theatrics. "What's the drama? For waiting between English and Italian. What are you acting here? Why do you call the score after 20 seconds?"

Djokovic was venting his anger having languished through the match slightly below his best. And he couldn't recover as Rune followed up his Paris Finals win over Djokovic with another huge victory against the 22-time grand slam champion.

It marks the first time since 2004 that neither Djokovic or Rafa Nadal will take home the title in Rome. Despite the high-intensity drama on court, Rune and Djokovic warmly embraced at the net.

And Djokovic was all praise for the Danish star in his post-match press conference. "Obviously in these kind of conditions, it's very difficult to get the ball past him," Djokovic added.

"He's very, very fast, very quick. Great anticipation. Just a very talented, dynamic player, all-around player. He was just better. He played too good for me for most parts of the match. I did have a bad start of the third set. I think that's where the match kind of shifted to his side. He kept his nerves and deserved to win.”

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