2023-05-20 14:58:01
ROME (AP) — Holger Rune followed up his most recent win over Novak Djokovic with another impressive performance as he came around to beat Casper Ruud 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday to reach the final of the Italian Open.
It will be the third clay final for Rune, after the 20-year-old Dane won the title in Munich and lost to Andrey Rublev for the title at the Mote Carlo Masters.
Rune will face the winner of the duel between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev, who are playing on the Central Field, in the final.
Later, Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina will face Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina in the women’s final.
Rune, seventh in the standings, had just beaten six-time Rome champion Djokovic — his second victory against the Serb in less than six months.
Ruud reached the Roland Garros final last year, losing to Rafael Nadal — who announced on Thursday he will not compete in Paris because of a hip problem that has sidelined him since January.
In a close and spectacular first set, Rudd won the first five points of the tiebreak to take control.
The duel was full of memorable points, starting with a drop shot from Ruud and the delicate response, but with an angular shot to take the second game.
The duel took place under intermittently rainy conditions.
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