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Thursday was a essential day in Holger Rune’s chase for a spot on the Nitto ATP Finals.
Not solely did two gamers near him within the Pepperstone ATP Reside Race To Turin — ninth-placed Taylor Fritz and Eleventh-placed Casper Ruud — lose earlier within the day, however the eighth-placed Rune earned a strong win on the Swiss Indoors Basel. The highest seed ousted Sebastian Baez, a winner of three ATP Tour titles this yr, 7-6(2), 6-1 to achieve the Basel quarter-finals.
“It was troublesome within the first set. I believe he was serving effectively. I used to be struggling just a little bit to search out the rhythm on the return,” Rune stated in his on-court interview. “However I stayed there, I stored my focus by myself serve and managed to boost my degree within the tie-break. And from there, I constructed some higher tennis.”
Win No 4️⃣0️⃣ within the bag ✅️🇩🇰@holgerrune2003 will get the higher of Baez 7-6(2), 6-1 to achieve the quarter-finals!
#SwissIndoorsBasel pic.twitter.com/HXIbu33bFn
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 26, 2023
Trailing by a set and a break in his opening match towards Miomir Kecmanovic, the Dane was in peril of shedding 9 of 10 matches and lacking a chance within the Reside Race. However now the 20-year-old, who was an alternate final yr in Turin, has a giant likelihood to increase his 135-point lead over Fritz within the Reside Race.
Rune will subsequent play Tomas Martin Etcheverry, who wanted greater than three hours to defeat former World No. 1 Andy Murray on Wednesday. Will probably be the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head assembly.
“I’ve to arrange effectively, and hopefully one other nice match tomorrow,” Rune stated.
Rune confirmed dedication towards the gritty baseliner Baez, with new coach Boris Becker watching intently from the entrance row. The four-time ATP Tour titlist saved the one break level he confronted and after breaking serve for the primary time early within the second set, he didn’t relent.
Rune received a better fee of second-serve factors (78%) than Baez did first-serve factors (68%) and that proved essential. He’s now 6-1 in Basel after reaching the ultimate final yr.
The participant who defeated Rune in that closing, Felix Auger-Aliassime, continued his return to type within the final match of the night. The Canadian eradicated qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 6-2 in 81 minutes.
The sixth-seeded Auger-Aliassime broke serve 4 occasions and is into the final eight with out shedding greater than 4 video games in a set. He’s making an attempt to efficiently defend a title for the primary time and can subsequent play qualifier Alexander Shevchenko.
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