Seventh seed Holger Rune saved a match point to beat Taylor Fritz 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 reaching his fifth Masters 1000 quarter final at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Both players traded holds in the first five games, but Fritz broke serve and reeled off the next four games including a second break to seal the first set 6-2 after 32 minutes.
Rune saved a break point to hold serve in the second game of the second set. Fritz saved two break points for the first time in the match in the fifth game. Fritz went up a 5-4 40-30. Rune saved the match point with his serve, as he was serving to stay in the match. Rune raced out to a 4-0 lead with two mini-breaks and forced a forehand error from Fritz to close out the tie-break 7-2.
Rune earned the only break in the fourth game of the third set and closed out the win on his first match point with a forehand winner.
“After I saved the match point, I gained some confidence. I even think from being down 5-4 I still believed in myself. I just lost focus quicky, and that’s why he got the match points in that service game. After that I was close to break him. He held, and then I played a very good tie-break”,said Rune.
Rune set up a quarter final against Danil Medvedev, who beat Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-4 earlier in the afternoon. Rune and Medvedev are 1-1 level in their two head-to-head matches in 2023. Rune beat Medvedev 6-3 6-4 in the quarter finals in Monte-Carlo last April. Medvedev avenged this defeat by beating Rune 7-5 7-5 in the final of the Rome Masters 1000 last May.
“It’s going to be an interesting match. We played each other twice on clay courts. It’s going to be the first match on hard-court. I am excited. Danil is a great opponent. He is a different kind of player than many others. Again, he has a great serve like Fritz, as well”, said Rune.
