By Pedro Martinez,TennisUpToDate.com

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The Davis Cup qualifiers have been completed, with the final eight countries being confirmed to lock horns in Bologna for the prestigious title. However, there will be no Denmark or USA involved in the finals.

Andy Roddick reviewed the main talking points on his Quick Served Podcast, touching on Holger Rune’s attitude in the Davis Cup matchup against Spain, whilst reviewing his home country’s loss to Czechia at the same stage.

Roddick finds the funny side of Rune’s antics

Rune swept up the headlines with his antics in his nation’s defeat in Malaga. Spanish captain David Ferrer accused the 22-year-old of swearing at the crowd, and at the end of the match, the Dane refused to shake the hand of the umpire after a jubious double-bounce did not go his way.

Denmark had a 2-0 lead going into the doubles match, but despite winning the first set they could not hold on to qualify for the finals for the first time since 2012. Rune had the opportunity to in the fourth rubber, but he squandered a match point and was defeated by Pedro Martinez, with Pablo Carreno Busta getting the job done for a Spanish team without Carlos Alcaraz or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

After watching the events, Roddick said: “I was about to think, ‘Oh, bitter Betty,’ you know – Holger’s had a bad week: first the DMs, now the umpire. But what he did was actually kind of funny. He extended his hand like he was going to shake the umpire’s hand, and then gave him the old ‘sike’. He literally got so close, then pulled it back. That was funnier than just ignoring the umpire. We’ve all been petulant little babies, but that psych-out handshake was good.”

Fellow host Mike Haydon said: “Holger said afterwards, quote: ‘He doesn’t deserve that. It’s pretty clear with so many mistakes. I don’t think it was very good work, so I don’t think he deserved it.”

“Yeah, and there were clear marks,” Roddick continued. “Multiple double bounces – that’s rough. But my nine-year-old son said Rune’s sike-out handshake was maybe the biggest victory ever in sports. We haven’t seen a performance like that since Lake Placid.”

Disappointment for team USA

Roddick went on to talk about the US team, looking into their injury issues with Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul struggling with injuries, and Taylor Fritz revealing that he was not feeling well.

The Americans went 2-1 up after the doubles match, but Fritz and Frances Tiafoe failed to win their final singles matches against Jiri Lehecka and Jakub Mensik, which left them on the wrong end of a 3-2 deficit.

“It’s been tough sledding. Bob and Mike are on the bag,” Roddick said. “Taylor wasn’t feeling well – he even told us after the first match. Maybe don’t say that publicly if you’ve got to play Fritz on day two. Frances is still looking for form. The “what if” game never ends when you’re a captain – should they have played Nakashima or Mickelson? Hurts that Shelton’s out, Tommy Paul’s out.

“Props to Tommy Paul, though – he’s been beat up since Roland Garros, but he was still there watching and supporting teammates. Rumour is he might need surgery. If that’s true, I’d just rip the band-aid off and do it sooner rather than later. I hope he doesn’t play through “average health” to the finish line this year – that just bleeds into the next year.

“Jiri Lehecka’s a really good player – borderline top 10. Mensík hasn’t played great, but they got through. That’s two top-20 guys to deal with just to get to Bologna. Not easy.”