Rinderknech sends a "little stick" to Munar at the press conference

Jaume Munar starred in some tense moments during his second-round match at this US Open, this time during his loss to Arthur Rinderknech. The Frenchman explained after the match that the Spaniard interrupted him at times when he was preparing to serve and acknowledged that he didn’t fully understand some of his protests. Rinderknech also took the opportunity to launch a harsh criticism against the balls used in New York and the increasingly slow conditions that, in his opinion, particularly disadvantage offensive players.

Rinderknech ultimately won 7-6, 6-2, and 7-5, although the scoreline doesn't completely reflect what happened at the beginning of the match. Munar managed to go up 5-2 in the first set before the Frenchman reacted and won the set in a tiebreak. From there, the match progressively fell in favor of the Frenchman, but there were several exchanges of words that heightened the tension on the court. L'Équipe highlighted Munar's continuous conversations with the chair umpire, while other French media reported that both players confronted each other verbally at certain moments during the duel.

Arthur Rinderknech explains his clash with Jaume Munar at the US Open

Asked specifically about that tension, Arthur Rinderknech provided his version of what happened to L’Equipe and claimed that Munar interfered when he was preparing to start some of his service games.

“Munar had his reasons to complain in the previous round against Terence Atmane. Today he also complained quite a bit about two or three things, and I didn’t really understand why. He prevented me from serving once or twice. I told him he could speak with the referee if he wanted, but not during my service games, because the rule states that it’s the server who sets the rhythm.”

The Frenchman also interpreted Munar's protests as a way to stay engaged in the match. “There are players who like to complain because it helps them stay involved in the match. I think that was his case,” he commented before downplaying the incident and clarifying that there were no major problems between them afterwards. According to Rinderknech, Munar simply criticized him at the end for having yelled at him during the match.

Rinderknech even went further in analyzing the psychological battle. The Frenchman made it clear that such situations don’t usually throw him off his game and believed that attempting to turn the match into a personal duel motivated him even more. He also wanted to point out that he maintains a good relationship with Munar off the court and attributed his behavior to accumulated frustration during the match.

The reference to Terence Atmane comes from what happened in the previous round. Munar had just participated in one of the strangest matches of the first round of the US Open. The Spaniard came back from two sets down to defeat the Frenchman after almost five hours, in a match affected by the severe cramps that Atmane suffered when he was poised to win. The Frenchman could barely move, served underhanded, and even used his non-dominant hand at times.

The situation also generated considerable tension because Atmane tried to make the most of the available time to recover. He received a warning and subsequently a penalty for exceeding the time, while Munar was appealing to the chair umpire about some of those delays and about the Frenchman’s conversations with his team. Thus, Rinderknech acknowledged that, in that match, the Spaniard did have objective reasons to protest.

Arthur Rinderknech après sa victoire face à Jaume Munar au deuxième tour de l'US Open : « Comme si on jouait avec des balles molles »

➡️ https://t.co/piWy4gBPPT pic.twitter.com/9Tzh8PsiOm

— L'Équipe (@lequipe) September 2, 2026

Arthur Rinderknech criticizes the conditions at the US Open after defeating Jaume Munar

Beyond his clash with Jaume Munar, the issue that concerned Rinderknech the most after the match was the playing conditions. The Frenchman, whose game is largely based on serving and being offensive, believes that the evolution of the balls is greatly complicating the game for players like him who try to take time away from their opponents.

“The evolution of the conditions, and especially the balls, doesn’t help offensive players, or at least those who try to generate play, take the initiative, and take time away from the opponent. Today it was 23 degrees, but it felt like we were playing with soft balls. In the first set, we could barely get the ball past the service box.”

Rinderknech was especially critical of the equipment and recalled that this is not an isolated protest. He explained that players have been voicing their displeasure to the ATP for balls whose behavior can even vary between different bounces.

“It's been a while since we players complained to the ATP for us to have balls suitable for professional tennis. The balls float, change direction, and they're not the same from one can to another. They also don't bounce the same way all the time. For us, it’s not always easy to hit the ball early when the bounces are so unstable.”

The Frenchman even related these irregularities to some seemingly inexplicable errors that occur during matches since two shots executed practically identically can end up having completely different trajectories. For a player who aims to attack the ball early and take it on the rise, any variation in the bounce reduces the reaction margin and ends up favoring longer exchanges.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Rinderknech le manda un "palito" a Munar en rueda de prensa