Djokovic defeats Rune to reach ninth Paris Masters semi-final

Paris (Web Desk) : On Friday, Novak Djokovic defeated Holger Rune to advance to the round of four and exact revenge for losing to him in the Paris Masters final the previous year. Meanwhile, Stefanos Tsitsipas scheduled a match against Grigor Dimitrov.

 After spending more than two and a half hours on the court at Bercy Arena, world number one Djokovic defeated Denmark’s Rune 7-5, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4 in the quarterfinals, despite missing a match point in the second set. After winning a record-tying 24th Grand Slam championship in New York in September, the Serbian star is participating in his maiden ATP Tour event.

Six-time Paris champion Djokovic will face Andrey Rublev for a place in the final after the Russian beat Alex de Minaur 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. “It was a pretty similar match to last year’s final, it was everyone’s match in every set,” Djokovic said. “I played a terrible tiebreak in the second set, probably the worst this year. But again, kudos to him for staying mentally strong and playing solidly. We have similar matches. Good movement, good defense and versatile players.”
The 36-year-old picked up the second win of his career against Rune, who is now working with Djokovic’s former coach Boris Becker, after two straight losses to the world number seven. “It’s strange to see Boris in the opponent’s box,” Djokovic added. “I wish him and Holger luck.”
Djokovic won the first set largely on serve with a break in the 12th game. He saw a match point come and go on Rune’s serve while leading 5-4 in the second set, before the player The 20-year-old created a serve. A series of bright spots in the tie-break series forced a winner or loser.
But Djokovic played superbly in the third set and a single break in the third game was enough to see him through. Djokovic has now won 16 consecutive matches since losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final. He had won eight previous semi-finals at the Paris Masters.

Tsitsipas powered his way into the semis with a dominant 6-3, 6-4 victory over Karen Khachanov. It was the 300th win of his career and gave the Greek, ranked sixth in the world, a semi-final match-up with Dimitrov who overcame Hubert Hurkacz 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.
Tsitsipas, who also reached the last four a year ago when he lost to Djokovic, has progressed to the same stage without dropping a set. “It’s working well. I feel like I can mix up play,” said Tsitsipas. Tsitsipas qualified for the season-ending ATP Finals as one of the top eight players of the year, but Hurkacz’s loss to Dimitrov eliminated the Pole from the competition. The final two positions for the event in Turin later this month will be taken by Alexander Zverev and Rune.
In recent weeks, Dimitrov, 32, has reached the semi-finals in Chengdu, the quarter-finals in Beijing and the Masters semi-finals in Shanghai. His path to the last four in Paris included a shock defeat to world number three Daniil Medvedev in the second round.
“My body feels fine now, that’s the most important thing,” Dimitrov said. “My head is fine. If I can play like that consistently in every match, I’ll put myself in a position to do better.” Dimitrov last reached the semi-finals in Paris in 2019 when he lost to Djokovic.