WATCH: Frustrated Holger Rune repeatedly lashes out at mother Aneke during shocking Shanghai Masters loss to World No. 204

Holger Rune was stunned by World No. 204 Valentin Vacherot in the quarterfinals of the ongoing 2025 Shanghai Masters. Throughout the contest, there were multiple instances of the Dane losing his calm, which adversely impacted his overall performance. At one stage, the 22-year-old appeared to lash out at his mother Aneke as well.

Rune, the No. 10 seed in Shanghai, put himself in pole position for securing a win over qualifier Vacherot on Thursday, October 9. The Dane dominated the Monegasque to seal the first set 6-2. However, Vacherot kept himself alive in the contest by clinching the second 7-6(4).

In the seventh game of the third and decisive set, Holger Rune found himself 0-30 down on his own serve, with the set's score at the time being even at 3-3. Here, the World No. 11, clearly frustrated at the situation he was in, repeatedly spoke in an aggressive tone with his mother Aneke, who was sitting in his box alongside the rest of his team. Watch the heated moment below:

Rune also had a go at his coaches, and in doing so, he inadvertently ran down the shot clock, which gave chair umpire Greg Allensworth no option but to give the Dane a time violation warning.

Eventually, Rune fell prey to cramp, and even though he tried his best to stretch Vacherot as much as possible, it wasn't enough, with the Monegasque winning the third set 6-4 to progress to the semifinals of a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time in his career.

"I was shocked by how Holger Rune was defending" - Valentin Vacherot after shocking Dane in Shanghai Masters QF

Valentin Vacherot after defeating Holger Rune (not in picture) in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Shanghai Masters (Source: Getty)

Reflecting on being dominated by Holger Rune in the first set of their quarterfinal clash at the 2025 Shanghai Masters, Valentin Vacherot said in the aftermath of his victory against the Dane:

"Today I was shocked by how (Rune) was defending. Points that I would win against 90 per cent of the guys, for him it was just a random ball. I felt like I was coming in and would have an easy volley. So the first set was pretty physical. My lungs were screaming a little bit."

However, the 26-year-old Monegasque also acknowledged that his first-set exertions ultimately helped him to adjust to his Danish opponent's defensive abilities from the second set onwards.

"But that helped me a lot for the second set, because I just went off to change and it helped me to play a little bit more free," Vacherot added.

The World No. 204, who is set to become a top 100 player once the new rankings are officially published folllowing the conclusion of the Shanghai Masters, now has the daunting task of getting past former No. 1 and 24-time Major champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.

Edited by Sudipto Pati