Tennis-Rune battles past Fritz to set up Medvedev showdown at Indian Wells

Rune surrendered the opening set in 32 minutes and looked down for the count when 2022 winner Fritz went up 5-4 and 40-30 in the next, but the seventh-seeded Dane produced a vital hold before forcing a tiebreak. The 20-year-old stepped up a gear to level the contest at one set all and broke his American opponent for the first time with some blistering shotmaking for a 3-1 lead in the decider.

Holger Rune rallied from a set down and saved a match point to defeat former champion Taylor Fritz 2-6 7-6(2) 6-3 on Wednesday and reach the Indian Wells quarter-finals where he will meet fourth seed Daniil Medvedev. Rune surrendered the opening set in 32 minutes and looked down for the count when 2022 winner Fritz went up 5-4 and 40-30 in the next, but the seventh-seeded Dane produced a vital hold before forcing a tiebreak.

The 20-year-old stepped up a gear to level the contest at one set all and broke his American opponent for the first time with some blistering shotmaking for a 3-1 lead in the decider. With Fritz wilting in the California desert, Rune completed the comeback by closing out the match on serve, finishing with a fiery forehand winner.

"It was crazy. I just stayed in the moment and kept fighting, trying to play better point to point and I managed to raise my level quite amazingly at the end of the second set, which meant everything for the match," Rune said. "He was controlling it in the first set and for a long time in the second as well, so I'm just happy I could keep fighting. I kept believing I was going to find my rhythm at some point. It was on the edge but I managed to find it, which was nice."

Up next for Rune is last year's runner-up Medvedev, who outclassed Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-4 with a near-flawless display to stay on course for his first title of the year. Earlier, Casper Ruud ended Frenchman Gael Monfils's run with a 3-6 7-6(3) 6-4 victory and will take on Tommy Paul in the quarter-finals after the American brought lucky loser Luca Nardi back down to Earth with a straight-sets win.

After struggling to put winners past the athletic Monfils in the first set the Norwegian ninth seed became more aggressive in a tight second and rolled through the tiebreak. Ruud finally broke his 37-year-old opponent for a 3-1 lead in the deciding set and cruised to the finish.

"I felt physically good and ready," Ruud said. "Really tough second set, it, fortunately, went my way. I saved a few break points there and was clutch enough in the tiebreak."

A nice moment came when Monfils walked to the service line trailing 3-5 in the third and the crowd rose to their feet to cheer on the fan favorite, who smiled and waved his racket in appreciation before holding serve. After pulling off a stunning win over his idol Novak Djokovic on Monday, 20-year-old Italian Nardi was served a dose of reality by Paul, who hit five aces and never dropped serve en route to a 6-4 6-3 win.

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