Indian Wells, Mar 13: Holger Rune overcame Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Indian Wells fourth round to snap the Greek’s seven-match winning streak.Rune flashed his entire repertoire in a 6-4, 6-4 win over Tsitsipas that upped his record against the Greek Grand Slam finalist to 4-0. He pulled off perhaps one of the shots of the year in the second set, a tweener lob.
Rune is into his ninth Masters 1000 quarter-final, with his best result at this level a title run in Paris in 2022 when he was just 19. Having reached the same stage in Indian Wells last year, the 12th seed is the first Scandinavian since Stefan Edberg in 1994-95 to advance to consecutive quarter-finals in the California desert, ATP reports
Rune had an inconsistent start to the year. The World No. 13 reached the fourth round at the Australian Open but struggled in February, failing to record consecutive wins at tour-level events in Rotterdam, Buenos Aires and Acapulco.
After earning his 16th Top 10 win and first on an outdoor hard court, Rune will aim to continue his run when he meets Tallon Griekspoor in the last eight.
“It was an extremely good match from my side from start to finish. I stayed very committed to my game plan. “Mentally I was very, very good. I think that’s what made the difference. How composed I could stay,” Rune, who had to retire at his last tournament in Acapulco due to food poisoning, said in a TV interview.
Earlier, Griekspoor overcame Japanese qualifier Yosuke Watanuki and the rain to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final.
In a rain-disrupted clash, Griekspoor earned a 7-6(4), 6-1 win to become the first Dutchman to advance to the last eight at a Masters 1000 since Robin Haase in Toronto in 2018.
Griekspoor captured the biggest win of his career in the second round when he upset No. 2 in the ATP Rankings Alexander Zverev. Griekspoor has been in red-hot form in recent weeks, having also advanced to the semi-finals in Dubai.