2023-11-04 01:33:54
Funny evening for Boris Becker. Posted, often standing, behind the center court, the former German champion watched the duel between his ex-protege Novak Djokovic and his new foal Holger Rune. And in this remake of last year’s final, where the young Dane won to everyone’s surprise, it was the Serb who validated his ticket for the semi-finals (7-5, 6-7 ( 3), 6-4).
“It looked a bit like the 2022 final,” summarizes Djokovic. There were ups, downs and ultimately it came down to one or two points against a player who is a bit of a mirror of me. It’s really a big victory for me. »
The Belgrade resident is only two steps away from a seventh coronation at the Accor Arena and you will have to be strong to deprive him of the tree which serves as a trophy and populates his forest of cups.
Woeful on Thursday against the Dutchman Griekspoor to the point of not going far from defeat, the world No. 1 quickly found colors by changing those of his outfit (going from red-purple to blue). In a high-flying first set, where the two men did not want to give up, the six-time winner of Bercy found the opening at 6-5 with a winning backhand volley right on the lane line.
From the start of the second round, Rune took the lead by exploiting the first drop in speed of the historic master of the place. A short-lived glimmer for the No. 7 at the ATP, broken in stride. But the title holder has guts. After saving a match point at 4-5, 30-40 with a winning service, the Scandinavian took advantage of Djokovic’s mistakes in the deciding game to return to a set all on a sumptuous backhand passing.
A small event because the Serbian had not lost a tie-break in eastern Paris for seven years! “I felt like I was playing one of the worst plays of my career,” he smiles.
After an interminable locker room break which caused him to be booed once again by the difficult Parisian public, Djokovic resumed his march forward by breaking at the start of the last round. Despite his combativeness and enthusiasm, Rune was never able to reverse the trend and left the Seine.
“I still had some bad memories from 2022 that came back,” he slips. I was also leading by a break in the 3rd and I didn’t manage to finish. This made me a little nervous but I was able to keep calm and find the right moves because Rune had raised his level by playing more aggressively. » Djokovic continues his journey. A routine in Paris…
Quarter-final results. Tsitsipas (Gre/n° 7) b. Khachanov (Rus/No. 16) 6-3, 6-4; Dimitrov (Bul) b. Hurkacz (Pol/n° 11) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4; Djokovic (Ser/n°1) b. Rune (Dan/n° 6); De Minaur (Aus/n° 13) – Rublev (Rus/n° 5).
The program for the semi-finals. From 2 p.m.: Tsitsipas (Gre/n° 7) – Dimitrov (Bul). Not before 4:30 p.m.: Djokovic (Ser/n° 1) – De Minaur (Aus/n° 13) or Rublev (Rus/n° 5).
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