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 really 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.
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“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 favourite, 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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