Former world number 4 Holger Rune beat Alex De Minaur 6-4 4-6 7-5 to reach the semifinal at the Paris Rolex Masters.
De Minaur saved two break points Rune needed just one break of serve to clinch the opening set 6-4.
Rune faced three break points at 4-5, when he was serving at 4-5 in the second set. De Minaur converted his second chance with an easy volley at the net to close out the second set 6-4.
Rune broke serve in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead, but De Minaur broke straight back in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3.
Rune hit a net cord that clipped the line on the right side of the court to earn a 0-15 lead and converted his second break point in the 11th game to take a 6-5 before holding serve to love to close out on the first match point. Rune is chasing his second title in Paris Bercy in 2022.
De Minaur won just 47% of his first service points.
Rune set up a semifinal match against Alexander Zverev. Who beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5 6-4.
Zverev beat Rune in five sets in the Round of 16 at Roland Garros.
Rune is 12-1 at the Paris Bercy indoor tournament. The Danish player won this tournament in 2022 beating Novak Djokovic in the final.
Rune is 13th in the ATP Live Race to Turin with 3025 points. Should Rune win his second title in Paris Bercy, he would move to within 120 points of De Minaur, who is currently eighth with 3745 points and holds the final qualifying spot “Sasha Zverev and I had a great match in Paris, where he took it in five sets. I beat him one time, he took me last time. He is one of the best players this year, so I will have to be very well prepared. He was putting so much up against me. He was making every ball with quality, deep in the court and the court is quite fast here. I had to adjust my game and it was a constant battle but how I treated the last couple of games was good. I went for it. I got it and I am very happy”, said Rune.
