Novak Djokovic is through to the semi-finals of the Paris Masters for the ninth time in his career after dethroning reigning champion Holger Rune in a hard-fought three-set battle - 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-4, in two hours and 50 minutes.
The world No.1, who lost last year's final to the Dane in three sets, took the lead after waiting patiently for his moment in the opening set, breaking in the 12th game. In the second set, the two traded a break point each, and Djokovic missed a match point in the tenth game to go to a tiebreak. In it, Rune, who has recently been mentored by Nole's former coach Boris Becker, was the more solid of the two on the court and restored parity. However, an early breakthrough in the third and decisive part gave the six-time champion calmness, as he did not allow any hesitation on the way to victory, which also leveled the score in the head-to-head matches with Rune - 2-2.
Djokovic finished with ten aces and four double faults, winning 83% of first serve points. He finished with fewer winners and more unforced errors than his opponent - 32 to 17 to 38 to 10 - but achieved another hard-fought three-set victory in the French capital after also breaking Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands in the previous round.
In contention for a place in his ninth final at the Bersi hall, the Serbian, who has never lost a semi-final in the competition, will face Andrey Rublev. The fifth-seeded Russian overturned Alex de Minaur of Australia 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in just over two hours. /BGNES
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