It was the expected poster from the draw for this Rolex Paris Masters. And this quarter-final between Novak Djokovic and Holger Rune, a remake of last year’s final won by the Dane, kept all its promises and offered one of the best matches, so far, of this 2023 edition.
Generous in the effort, offensive from the first strokes of the racket to the point of returning Djokovic’s second balls inside the court, Holger Rune shone. It was often he who made the best points in this first set. But there it was, opposite, it was Novak Djokovic. Each time it was necessary to raise the level, the Serb responded. Intractable in defense, he was able to be diabolically effective on the first break point… which was also a set point in his favor. His two-handed backhand volley, without any margin, died on the line and gave him the first set. Not against the court of the game, but Rune was not paid for his efforts.
While we thought that the hardest part was done for the world No. 1, the Dane showed once again that he does not accept defeat. Finally back at his best level after a catastrophic summer and a back injury which had deprived him of victories since his quarter-final at Wimbledon, he offered himself an unexpected break to lead 2-1. Djokovic reacted immediately to erase his handicap. The level did not drop a notch and the Serb offered himself his first match point. Rune erased him with a winning service. It was then time for the tie-break, Novak Djokovic’s favorite exercise.
But Holger Rune is not the type to be impressed by statistics. On the nerves, he continued to take the net to come away 3-0. Then 4-1 after a double fault from Djokovic. Impressive in this decisive game, he equalized at a set all after a winning passing. We wanted more.
Unfortunately, the last set was not going to reach the same intensity as the first two. Broken quickly, Rune marked the blow physically. He even had to call in the physiotherapist for a blister on a finger. With this break, Djokovic did not release his grip and Rune was never able to consider getting back in front. But Boris Becker has reason to be proud of his new foal who didn’t give up in 2h54. Djokovic is waiting to know if he will play Andrey Rublev or Alex De Minaur.