Rune saves match point to reach Indian Wells quarters

Holger Rune rallied for a 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 defeat of Taylor Fritz to reach the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells Masters, saving a match point along the way.

The seventh seed managed to put aside the 15 unforced errors from the opening set as he engineered a comeback over his American opponent.

Rune saved a Fritz match-winner trailing 4-5 in the second set as the home hero missed his chance to close out a straight-sets decision.

Rune won the second set in a tiebreak to level the contest and broke Fritz in the fourth game of the final set to ensure eventual victory. 

“It was crazy. I really just stayed in the moment, kept fighting,” Rune, who ended with 29 winners, said. “I tried to play point to point.

“I managed to raise my level quite amazingly at the end of the second set.”

Rune now faces 2023 finalist Daniil Medvedev in a first Masters quarter-final for the 20-year-old Dane.

the Dane’s in the last eight, which will mark the Dane’s first Masters 1000

“Against Daniil, it’s a completely different match from today. I think the only similarity [Fritz and Medvedev] have is the big serve, otherwise they are two different players,” Rune said.