Danish teenager Rune stuns Djokovic to win maiden Paris Masters title

Danish teenager Holger Rune shocked six-time champion Novak Djokovic to win the Paris Masters title on Sunday.

Rune got here from 1-3 down within the third set to win 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in two hours 32 minutes and hand the Serbian his first defeat on the occasion since 2018.

Victory over Djokovic concluded a sensational week for 19-year-old from Gentofte as he beat 5 prime 10 gamers to clinch the title, the primary one on document (since 1973) to attain such a feat.

Djokovic broke Rune within the fourth sport of the opening set which proved sufficient to take the lead.

Rune, taking part in his first-ever Masters last as in comparison with Djokovic’s 56th, went down 0-40 within the opening sport of the second set however by some means managed to save lots of all three break factors and maintain serve. The Dane, nonetheless, then broke Djokovic within the following sport to take a 2-0 lead and levelled issues up by taking the second set 6-3.

Within the deciding third set, Djokovic drew first blood as he broke Rune within the fourth sport to go 3-1 up. The benefit, although, didn’t final lengthy as a spirited Rune fought to interrupt again instantly and produce issues on serve. The Dane once more broke Djokovic to go 6-5 up and serve for the title.

Rune saved six break factors and wasted one match level with a double fault earlier than ultimately drawing an error on the half volley from Djokovic to seal the title.

“It was essentially the most tense sport of my life,” Rune mentioned in regards to the twelfth sport of the third set within the on-court interview. “My coronary heart was virtually in my mind. I used to be already beginning to consider the tie-break. I’m very proud I may end it.”

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On his approach to the ultimate, Rune defeated three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, World No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz, World No. 9 Andrey Rublev, World No 1 Carlos Alcaraz and World No. 8 Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Rune, who’s the youngest Paris Masters champion since Boris Becker, 18, in 1986, will turn into the first-ever Danish man to enter prime 10 within the ATP Rankings on Monday.

Rune was set to play within the Subsequent Gen ATP Finals in Milan from Tuesday, an occasion for prime eight Underneath-21 gamers, however has now withdrawn since he would be the first alternate for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin which occur between November 13-20.