Christopher Fillocque, with AFP / Photo credit: Ibrahim Ezzat / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP
In a remake of the 2022 final won by Holger Rune, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, visibly in better shape than the day before, took his revenge on the young Dane in the quarter-finals of the Masters 1000 in Paris on Friday.
Caught during the week by a “stomach virus” which considerably weakened him but appeared more dashing than in the previous round, Djokovic was nevertheless pushed to his limits by Rune (7th), now accompanied by Boris Becker: the The 20-year-old Dane rejected a match point in the second set and stretched the match into three sets before losing 7-5, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4 in almost three hours. Twenty-four hours earlier, clearly in pain, the 36-year-old Serbian narrowly escaped against the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor (23rd) 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4.
For a place in the final, Djokovic, already a six-time winner of the Paris tournament, a record, will face world No.5 Andrey Rublev on Saturday, victorious 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 over Alex De Minaur (13th) at 1 a.m. in the morning. To get an idea of the task awaiting the Russian: the world No.1 has not lost a match since the epic Wimbledon final snatched by Carlos Alcaraz and is only two victories away from a 40th title in Masters 1000. The other semi-final pits Stefanos Tsitsipas (6th) against Grigor Dimitrov (17th).
Djokovic ‘really better’
“I didn’t know how I was going to feel after the match yesterday (Thursday). It was definitely better. Not great at first, but as the match went on, I felt like I had more energy “, described “Djoko”. “It’s a positive sign ahead of tomorrow’s (Saturday) semi-final.” “It was important for me to have a good feeling,” he added. “I just hope to keep this energy level and perform well.”
Service lost on the only break point, synonymous with set point, with which he was confronted in the first set, Rune not only avoided a comparable scenario in the second (with the exception of an exchange of early breaks), when, at 5 games to 4, the world No.1 obtained a first match point, but he equalized at a set all in the tie-break.
Returning from a refreshing break in the locker room which he is accustomed to, Djokovic quickly set the record straight in the decisive set by breaking in the third game and ended up taking revenge on Rune. “It was a very similar match to last year. I was one break ahead (before losing in the final in 2022, editor’s note), it crossed my mind when I was in front ( Friday evening), the memories came flooding back, but (…) I managed to stay calm,” he said. “It’s a great win for me.” With Rune, “we have very similar tennis, it’s like playing in front of a mirror,” he described.
A year ago, the Danish nugget signed a series of five consecutive victories against players in the top 10, including Djokovic in the final, to claim his first Masters 1000 trophy.
Zverev and Rune at the Masters
In the Parisian room, “Nole” is back in competition after a month and a half break after the 24th Grand Slam trophy won at the US Open in September, an absolute record equaled by the Australian Margaret Court. In the wake of his triumph in New York, he made a victorious foray into the Davis Cup. With today’s results, the casting for the end-of-season Masters in Turin (Italy) mid-November is finalized. Alexander Zverev and Rune pocket the last two tickets for good.
As in 2022, Tsitsipas is in the final four, in this case without having lost a set along the way, after his 6-3, 6-4 victory at the expense of Karen Khachanov (15th) – the 300th of his career on the ATP circuit. The 25-year-old Greek has known since the day before that his qualification for the Masters has been confirmed. “My game reached an interesting level today (Friday), better than in recent days,” he appreciated.
Faller of world No.3 Daniil Medvedev in the second round after a high-flying duel, Dimitrov got rid of Hubert Hurkacz (11th) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, thwarting the last hopes of qualification of the Pole for the Masters, nevertheless in a good position to be the first replacement. Recent semi-finalist in Chengdu (China) and at the Shanghai Masters 1000, quarter-finalist in Beijing between the two, the 32-year-old Bulgarian confirms his current good form.