Internazionali d’Italia: Holger Rune eliminates Novak Djokovic and goes to semifinals

Internazionali d’Italia: Holger Rune eliminates Novak Djokovic

The young upstart folded the world number 1: 20-year-old Danish Holger Rune, number 7 ATP, in the quarterfinals of the men’s Internazionali d’Italia beat Novak Djokovic with a score of 6-2 4-6 6-2, confirming himself as one of the fittest and, above all, most concrete men on the circuit.

Rune had already beaten the Serb in last year’s Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 final and today he repeated himself on a day characterized once again by rain that hampered the program at the Foro Italico.

In the first set Rune flew to 2-0 and then 5-1 winning the partial shortly after. In the second Nole won a break in the sixth game then going to 5-2 but when serving for the set he lost his serve at 15. In the next game he took a 0-30 lead on his opponent’s serve but rain came to break the match.

When he recovers, Djokovic immediately pockets the two points he needs to go to the deciding partial, but Rune flies to 4-0 and is never to be caught again closing in two and a quarter hours of actual play and now awaits the winner between Norway’s Casper Ruud and Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo, the executioner of Jannik Sinner.