WATCH: Holger Rune wins cat and mouse affair against Daniil Medvedev
Holger Rune continues to notch up big wins against the big-name players in tennis with Daniil Medvedev the latest to taste defeat at the Monte Carlo Masters.
Last year Rune beat the likes of Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Andrey Rublev en route to winning the Paris Masters and now he finds himself two wins away from another ATP Masters 1000 title after booking a spot in the semi-final with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Medvedev.
What made his win even more impressive was the fact that Medvedev has been the form player on the ATP Tour in recent months as he has won four titles – including the Miami Open just over a fortnight ago.
Medvedev, of course, was coming off a three-hour third-round win over Alexander Zverev on Thursday while Rune advanced to the quarter-final without hitting a ball after Matteo Berrettini withdrew due to injury.
And the extra hours on court had an impact as the Dane broke in game four and was pretty comfortable for the remainder of the set before serving it out.
Rune then claimed a break in game three of the second set, but this time Medvedev hit back immediately only for the sixth seed to break again in game nine and went on to claim his 10th win over a top-10 player.
“It wasn’t easy for sure, it’s always tough to play Daniil,” Rune said. “It was actually my first time playing against him in a real match, but we’ve practised tonnes of times. I have huge respect for everything he’s done. The last week it was not easy to stop him but I’m happy I managed to do it.”
The 19-year-old will rise to a career-high No 7 in the ATP Rankings on Monday and he could even jump up to No 6 if he defeats Jannik Sinner in the semi-final.
Sinner won an all-Italian match as he secured a 6-2, 6-2 victory Lorenzo Musetti, who stunned Novak Djokovic in the previous round.
“It’s not easy playing against [Musetti],” Sinner said. “I know his ability, his style, especially on this surface. I knew that I had to step up, try to take my chances before him.
“For sure starting [well], breaking him early gave me a lot of confidence and obviously I’m very happy about the performance… I felt great today on the court. I felt that I’m hitting the ball in the right spots in the right moments. I tried to stay aggressive, which I’ve done, so that’s for sure the positive thing.”
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