Top seed Holger Rune beat James Duckworth 6-2 7-6 (8-6) in 1 hour and 45 minutes inside Pat Rafter Arena to reach the semifinals at the Brisbane International.
Rune reeled off five consecutive games from 1-2 down in the first set with two breaks of serve in one sided-first set. The second set went on serve until the tie-break. Rune earned a mini-break to take a 6-4. Duckworth saved two match points, but Rune sealed the tie-break 8-6 on his third match point.
“It was a really good match, especially in the first set. I started strong, put him under pressure and was feeling good with my shots. I felt like I was still in control of the second set. I had some chances to break and did not manage to do it, but I stayed there and was strong in the tie-break mentally and physically, and played some good tennis. He changed the strategy a bit in the second set. I am sure I was able to close it in two sets. I feel great”, said Rune.
Rune won his first two matches of the 2024 season against Max Purcell and Alexander Schevchenko in three sets. The Danish player set up a semifinal clash against Roman Safiulin, who beat Matteo Arnaldi 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 in 1 hour and 48 minutes.
Arnaldi saved four break points in the third game of the opening set, which went on serve en route to the tie-break. Safiulin earned the only mini-break to seal the tie-break 7-4.
Safiulin earned two breaks to race out to a 4-0 lead. Arnaldi did not convert two break-back points in the fifth game. The Italian player pulled one break back in the seventh game, but Safiulin sealed the win with his third break of the set on his first match point.
Earlier at this tournament Safiulin beat Ben Shelton 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 and Australia’s Alexei Popyrin 6-7 (9-11) 6-4 7-6 (7-3).
Grigor Dimitrov beat Rinky Hijikata 6-1 6-4 to advance to the semifinal in Brisbane for the fifth time. Dimitrov broke twice in the second and fourth games to race out to 6-4 in the first set. The Bulgarian player served out the first set 6-4 from 30-40 down in the 10th game. Dimitrov earned an immediate break in the first game of the second set and held on his next service games to win the second set 6-4.
