Djokovic won after fierce resistance from Rune
Dane Holger Rune had to lose to world number one Novak Djokovic in the hunt for the semifinals of the Paris Masters.
Djokovic won 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4 in a very even match.
Thus, Djokovic took revenge after Rune beat him in the final of the Paris tournament last year.
In the first set, they chased each other to 5-5 before world number one Djokovic equalized at 6-5 and then broke the Dane’s serve.
Towards the second set, the temperature heated up when Djokovic felt he was being treated unfairly. Rune challenged the referee’s decision with one stroke, but Djokovic saw the challenge come too late after the Dane himself hit the ball with the next stroke.
Djokovic argued with the referee for several minutes before resuming play. After the Serb misused match point, the set went to a tiebreak. There, Rune showed high class and outclassed his opponent.
Therefore, the match had to be decided in the third and decisive set. There, Djokovic got an early break and went on to win.
Rune has the stats ahead of his meeting with Djokovic on Friday. The Danish tennis player had two wins and one defeat in his previous duels and last beat Djokovic at the Masters tournament in Rome this year.
Djokovic will face Alex de Minaur or Andrej Rublev in the semifinals. Both will compete for the final semifinal spot on Friday.
Grigor Dimitrov and Stefanos Tsitsipas meet in the other semifinal.
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