Holger Rune will not see the semi-finals of the ATP Finals for his first participation. Unlike Novak Djokovic, who took advantage of Jannik Sinner’s victory against the Dane (6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in 2h31), to stay in the race and play a twelfth semi-final. The Serbian is still aiming for a seventh Masters title and will know his opponent on Friday. Already qualified before this match, Sinner played the game until the end and thus secures his first place in this green group.
Holger Rune came close to making an unexpected comeback. Very poorly in this decisive match for him, the Dane allowed himself to be overwhelmed by emotions. Appearing nervous and excited in the first set, he completely foiled with poorly prepared climbs to the net or desperate winning shot attempts. Constantly asking for help from his clan, he lost the first four games of the match then the first set in 32 minutes (6-2). At this point in the match, qualification for the semi-finals seemed very utopian.
Djokovic took out the popcorn: how Sinner staved off the Rune threat
Sinner suffered, his back too
Having left to recharge his batteries for a few minutes in the locker room, the eighth-ranked player in the world returned to the court with other intentions. More concerned, sharper in his strikes and finally accepting the exchange, he held his throws despite an alert at 2-1. And while Sinner began to show signs of pain in his lower back on the left side, Rune emerged at the best moment to return to level thanks to a subtle lob over the Italian’s head (7-5 , 1h01).
A clever lob and Rune restarts his match against Sinner: the ball from the 2nd set on video
Sinner’s physical health then became a primary equation in the outcome of this match. Already qualified, was the fourth in the world going to end up holding back to save his strength for Saturday? He quickly showed that not by obtaining two break points in a third game of almost thirteen minutes during which Rune had a heated discussion with the referee causing whistles from the Italian public. His first ball quality saved him temporarily.
But it was his success on the second serve that precipitated the Dane’s fall. While he had won 71% of the points behind it in the second set, his percentage fell to 27% in the initial set and… 21% (3/14) in the last. A statistic which forced him to regularly find himself under pressure in the game. He held on, rejected a 3-2 ball in favor of Sinner then in turn obtained a break point at 4-3 in his favor.
A setback that will stay in your throat
Much less impactful, especially on the backhand side, Sinner seemed to suffer the blow in this game. Rune failed to take advantage by sending his backhand return on a second opponent’s ball in the lane. The Dane didn’t know it yet but he had just missed his chance and will probably brood over this failed return for a long time. From the next game, Sinner hit a little harder and made the difference on his third opportunity before concluding with his serve (6-4, 58 minutes).
As against Novak Djokovic on Tuesday, the Italian won for the first time against Holger Rune after two defeats in as many matches. A success which therefore allows the world number one to be in the semi-finals for the last tournament of the year after going through all the emotions this Thursday. Jannik Sinner and the Serbian will discover their opponents on Friday. They will be looked for among Daniil Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz or Alexander Zverev. Further on the starting line, Andrey Rublev has a slim chance.