Reassuring about his physical condition, Novak Djokovic won in three sets against Holger Rune (7-5, 6-7, 6-4) Friday evening in a match lasting almost three hours where the Serb had to battle without doubt. “Nole” pulled away and qualified with a determined look for his ninth semi-final at the Rolex Paris Masters. A great revenge, almost a year after his defeat in the final against the same Holger Rune.
Djokovic’s anger after a late Rune challenge
In an exciting match where the world number 7 continued to respond to number 1 through climbs to the net and powerful serves, it was the more experienced of the two who came out on top. And more surprisingly, the freshest physically. The day after his difficult victory against Griekspoor, Djokovic seemed far from illness, especially in a physical third set.
The Serbian gained the upper hand over his opponent thanks to a break that Rune never caught, due to a very good service game from Djokovic, author of 9 aces this Friday evening. Less lucid, the Dane gave too many points to hope once again to beat the man who has already won the title 6 times here.
A volley on the line, a harangued crowd and Djokovic takes the first set against Rune
Rune could have made Djokovic doubt
However, after a first set lost without merit, the young 20-year-old player sent a strong message to Djokovic. By first saving a match point, but above all by shining during a quick tie-break.
Rune takes on Djokovic in the tie-break of the 2nd set and gets back to one set everywhere
Solid on the Serbian’s first serve, Rune was able to move on to quickly lead 3-0. He even posted an impressive series of 9 points won out of the last 10 at the end of the second set. Logical 7-3 victory in a tie-break which did not trouble Djokovic, to whom the return to the locker room did the greatest good. The hope of seeing Rune become the 6th player in history to beat “Nole” three times in a row was quickly swept away. The latter only waited for his opponent’s second service game to break and manage the end of the match.
Djokovic angry with refereeing
If this meeting lasted 2 hours 50 minutes to the delight of a Bercy audience, often called upon by the two players to create some atmosphere, Djokovic could have won much earlier. While the Serb led 15/30 on Rune’s serve at 5-4, the latter challenged a point…after having played it. The young Dane raised his hand as his forehand ended its journey off the court. A behavior that Djokovic did not appreciate for whom it was logical that the point should go to him. Despite discussions with the referee, the “Joker”‘s move was reviewed on video and flagged as a foul. The score then showed 30-30 and not 15-40 as number 1 wanted.
A fact of no serious consequence for him. He once again finds himself in the semi-finals of the Rolex Paris Masters and must hope for an equally good battle between De Minaur and Rublev so as, this time, not to find himself physically inferior.