Djokovic gets his revenge by beating defending champion Rune to reach Paris Masters semifinals
PARIS (AP) — Novak Djokovic took his revenge over defending champion Holger Rune to reach the semifinals of the Paris Masters on Friday after a nearly three-hour battle.
The Dane beat Djokovic in last year’s final but could not prevail this time. Djokovic won 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-4.
The top-ranked Djokovic, a six-time champion at the Paris Masters, advanced to the last four for the ninth time.
Rune saved a match point when trailing 5-4 in the second set and played an excellent tiebreaker to level at one-set apiece but Djokovic raised his level in the decider, dropping just three points on his serve.
Djokovic secured an early break in the third set and then played aggressively to keep Rune well behind the baseline.
The result extended Djokovic’s winning streak to 16 matches. He will meet Andrey Rublev or Alex de Minaur for a place in the final.
Earlier, Grigor Dimitrov booked his spot in the semifinals with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win over Hubert Hurkacz that ended his rival’s hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals.
Despite hitting 19 aces, the 11th-seeded Hurkacz dropped his serve three times in their quarterfinal match. He can no longer finish among the top eight players of the season.
The 32-year-old Dimitrov reached the last four at the indoor tournament for the second time in his career.
It’s the first time since 2017 — the year he won the ATP Finals — that Dimitrov has reached 40 tour-level wins in a season. The Bulgarian will have the chance to improve that record against seventh-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinals.
Dimitrov has been enjoying a good run of form, also reaching the semifinals at the Shanghai Masters last month.
“My body is feeling well for now, that’s the most important thing,” said Dimitrov, who converted all three break points he had. “My head is good. If I’m able to play like that on a consistent basis throughout every game, I put myself in a position to do better. Today was no different.”
Hurkacz started poorly but fought hard to level at one set each before he was broken in the seventh game of the decider.
“(Hurkacz was) on fire definitely with the serves,” Dimitrov said. “I knew what to expect against him, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to get a break. I had to stay very focused and every time I had the opportunity to get into a rally, I had to do something. A few points made a huge difference today.”
Tsitsipas had no problem beating Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-4 to post a 300th career-win and achieve a third consecutive semifinal appearance. Tsitsipas has yet to drop a set in Paris this week.
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