Holger Rune beats Jannik Sinner in dramatic match to reach Monte Carlo Masters final against Andrey Rublev
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Published 15/04/2023 at 20:31 GMT
The battle of the young guns in Monte Carlo may not have lived up to the hype in terms of the quality on display, but Holger Rune v Jannik Sinner more than made up for it in terms of the drama it produced. Rune stormed back from a 6-1 opening-set hammering to take the match in just under three hours, earning the right to face Andrey Rublev in Sunday's final.
Highlights: Rune through to ATP Sofia final after two-time defending champion Sinner retires
Holger Rune stormed into the final of the Monte Carlo Masters on Saturday evening with an impressive three-set victory over Jannik Sinner, 1-6 7-5 7-5.
Recovering from a horror start, the Dane was rock solid in the next two, and pounced on the key opportunities against an opponent who won more points and more games overall.
The Dane became the first teenager since Rafael Nadal in 2006 to reach the final of the Principality's tournament.
Monte Carlo marks the first stop on the clay-court swing in 2023 for both players, and each had looked right at home this week.
Although Sinner did get himself into trouble earlier in the week against Hubert Hurkacz, the Italian had been largely faultless and reached the semi-final in high spirits.
When the match finally got underway after extensive rain delay, Sinner continued that red-hot form. He had dropped just five games in his last three sets before meeting Rune, and lost only one in a dominant first set in the semi-final as he won it 6-1.
However, Rune's run to the semi-final had been equally impressive, dispatching Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev either side of a walkover against Matteo Berrettini.
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Highlights: Rune through to ATP Sofia final after two-time defending champion Sinner retires
The Dane struck back in the second set, cornering Sinner with a 3-0 lead until another rain delay gave both players a chance to catch their breath.
When they returned to court, Sinner levelled the set at 5-5, but Rune reeled off the next two games to take the set 7-5 and square the match.
The players traded service games early in the third set. Deep in the third, Rune was seemingly pulling away again. He held serve for a 5-4 lead, and Sinner suddenly found himself serving for his championship life.
Before the next game, the umpire gave the Dane a warning for hitting the ball at his opponent's body, despite Rune's protestations. Sinner held both his nerve and serve to take the set to 5-5.
Rune took his next service game and Sinner then appeared poised to follow suit and force a tie-break, but the Dane had other ideas.
He had converted just two of 13 break points up that point in the match, but Rune made no mistake on the 14th and held on to break the Italian's serve and claim the match.
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Jannik Sinner
Image credit: Getty Images
Before the contest, Sinner predicted "a very exciting match". He said: "Both of us, we are very aggressive. We try to do our thing on the court, different kinds of attitudes."
While they delivered excitement, it was also a match somewhat lacking in quality. The pair combined for 10 double-faults, and a host of unforced errors.
After the match, Rune admitted that Sinner had surprised him in the first set: "It was quite unbelievable. Jannik started firing, hitting a lot of winners and he has been in good form the past few months. I had to dig deep and find solutions, which I did well. It was fun to play like this."
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