Paris Masters: Rune prevails against De Minaur to set up Zverev semi-final clash

Dane Holger Rune, the No 13 seed, edged out Australian Alex De Minaur, the No 9 seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the semi-finals of Paris Masters at the Accor Arena on Friday evening.

In the first set, both were producing lung-busting extended rallies, as expected, with Rune purposefully slowing down some of his shots – something which a counter-puncher like Alex de Minaur does not like. The tactic proved fruitful, breaking at 2-2 and holding relatively easily from there, taking the tight set 6-4.

The second set was a continuation of this closely fought battle, with Holger Rune having a key opportunity being two points away from breaking at 4-4 on his opponent’s serve. However, in typical fashion, the Australian is not one to go away easily, and won eight of the next nine points to hold and then break to equal the match at one set all.

After an hour and a half of exhausting rallies, it would be easy to expect that one – or both – players would physically fatigue and not put up much of a fight. However, the third set saw two players fighting for a place at the Nitto ATP Finals battle until the very end, with Rune gaining the first break at 2-2, before De Minaur broke back in the very next game. A visibly frustrated Dane was close to boiling point, however he produced a stunning passing shot and a powerful return winner to break at 5-5, and finished the match 7-5 in the third.

Rune: “I went for it”

After the match, Holger Rune said:

“The court is quite fast, even compared to the outside courts, so I had to adjust my game style a little bit. It was a constant battle, but how I treated the last few games was really good, I went for it, and I am very happy.”

Rune was also asked about his next opponent, Alexander Zverev:

“Sascha and I had a great match in Paris this year, where he took it in five (sets), I beat him one time, he beat me last time. He’s one of the best players of the season, so I have to be very well prepared and physically recover, and working on the level that I played at the end of the match.”

The Paris Masters marks his second Masters 1000 semi-final of the season, having already made the last four at the Cincinnati Masters. It was at the Paris Masters where the Dane won the biggest title of his career, and, in his post-match press conference, made clear that the tournament is his priority, rather than qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals – which requires him to win the title:

“My focus is just to do well here in Paris. It’s this tournament that means almost everything to me. It’s where it all started a few years back. My goal is to do as good as possible here and then we see what happens after. Definitely 100% of my focus is in Paris, and it’s going to keep being in Paris until the job is done.”

my focus is in Paris, and it’s going to keep being in Paris until the job is done

Rune, when asked if his is thinking about Nitto ATP Finals qualification

Rune, ranked No 13, will play German Alexander Zverev, the No 3 seed, next.

Ahead of his victory, the 21-year-old Dane defeated Italian Matteo Arnaldi (6-4, 6-4), Kazakh Alexander Bublik (6-4, 6-2) and French lucky loser Arthur Cazaux (3-6, 6-3, 6-4).

De Minaur, ranked No 10, won against Argentinian Mariano Navone (7-5, 6-1), Serb lucky loser Miomir Kecmanovic (6-4, 7-6 (5)) and Jack Draper (5-7, 6-2, 6-3) earlier in the tournament.

Paris Masters 1000, other last eight results (Accor Arena, hard, EUR 5.950.575, most recent results first):

• Grigor Dimitrov vs. Karen Khachanov
• Jordan Thompson vs. Ugo Humbert
• Alexander Zverev beat Stefanos Tsitsipas (10): 7-5, 6-4