(Reuters) – Denmark’s Holger Rune snapped a seven-match semi-final losing streak to reach the Indian Wells final, beating Russian Daniil Medvedev 7-5 6-4 in a tight match on Saturday.
Rune, the number 12 seed, lost to Medvedev in the quarter-finals a year ago and will next play the winner of the match between Briton Jack Draper and back-to-back defending champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain.
Rune and Medvedev were evenly matched in a gruelling opening set in which they traded early breaks and Rune battled through a marathon six-deuce eighth game to hold his serve.
Medvedev helped him to a break point with a fluffed shot at the net in the 11th game and the 21-year-old Dane carried the momentum into the second set, breaking the former U.S. Open champion to love in the third game.
Down 0-30 in the final game, Rune clawed his way back and forced a fatigued Medvedev into an error at the end of a 37-shot rally on the penultimate point before clinching victory with a powerful forehand winner.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, editing by Ed Osmond)
