Holger Rune notched another impressive win on the indoor hard courts of Europe on Friday, when the 19-year-old took out second seed Cameron Norrie in the quarter-finals at the Stockholm Open.
The World No. 27 responded strongly to dropping the first-set tie-break to charge to a 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3 win. He struck 38 winners, including 11 aces, to claim his first victory against the Briton in four ATP Tour meetings this year.
“It was an unbelievable match, I think we both played pretty well,” said Rune after the victory. “Obviously I’ve lost three times in a row to Cam, so I knew it was going to be difficult and the result today showed it was a lot of hard work, so I’m just super happy that after a tough and very long first set, I could stay composed and find a way.”
Having reached the final in Sofia three weeks ago, Rune's run in Stockholm so far has lifted him to No. 25 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings as he prepares to meet Alex de Minaur in the semi-finals. The Australian notched an impressive win of his own in Sweden on Friday, downing Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 7-6(4) to reach his fifth tour-level semi-final of the season.