Holger Rune will be playing in the semifinals of the 2024 Brisbane International after overcoming James Duckworth.
Tournaments in Australia are quite specific, because many home players enter them, and usually, they pose a serious threat on the home soil, as the Australian fans are able to get behind them, and they are used to the conditions.
That's what happened to Rune already twice at the 2024 Brisbane International, as he had to deal with Max Purcell in the opening round. After that, the young Dane played a challenging match against Alexander Shevchenko, and finally, in the quarterfinals, he recorded his first straight-sets win of the new ATP season.
Taking on Duckworth in Australia was never going to be easy, but Rune made it look like it in the first set of the match. He was solid on his serve, and when it came to his opponent's serve, he was able to create enough pressure to cause problems.
As a result, he broke Duckworth's serve two times, and established a 5-2 lead. Despite facing a break point when serving for the set, the 20-year-old didn't panic, winning the first set 6-2.
The second set of the match proved to be much more challenging for the top seed in Brisbane. Both players were almost flawless on their serves, as the world no. 8 managed to hit seven aces and win 95% of points after his first serve.
Therefore, it wasn't a surprise when the set reached a tie-break without any break points on offer throughout the set. Rune got the first mini-break, leading 6-4, but he couldn't use his two match points.
However, immediately after, he created another chance, and this time used it, to win the match 6-2, 7-6(6) and set up a semifinal clash with in-form Roman Safiullin in Brisbane.
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