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Running back into form without a moment to spare, defending champion Holger Rune has given himself the chance to reprise his stunning win over Novak Djokovic last year at the Rolex Paris Masters and boost his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals after a key win Thursday night.
The 20-year-old Dane produced a convincing 6-3, 6-3 win over German Daniel Altmaier to charge into the quarter-finals and set another meeting with the World No. 1, whom he denied a seventh Paris title in last year’s final.
Rune’s title run last year left him one place outside the cut for the Nitto ATP Finals, where he served as the alternate. This year he is trying to hang onto the eighth and final place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.
How about Holger tonight? 🌃@RolexPMasters | #RolexParisMasters pic.twitter.com/rqZcATepud
— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 2, 2023
In addition to his 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over Djokovic in last year’s final, the World No. 7 defeated the Serbian in three sets in the Rome quarter-finals earlier this year to take a 2-1 lead in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
Against Altmaier, Rune hit 21 winners to just 13 unforced errors. He has not dropped a set this week and has extended his winning streak to eight matches at the tournament, where last year he claimed five consecutive Top 10 victories to win his first ATP Masters 1000 title.
After a hot start to the year that elevated him to a career-high No. 4 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Rune had won just four matches since Wimbledon coming into Paris. But with Boris Becker added to his coaching team, Rune showed promising signs with a run to the Basel semi-finals last week.
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