Rune battles past Fritz to set up Medvedev showdown in Indian Wells Masters

CALIFORNIA: 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 reached 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.

“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,” he added.

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.

Navarro beats Sabalenka in three sets

Emma Navarro beat second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday for the biggest win of the young American’s career. The 2021 NCAA singles champion from Virginia reached her fourth quarter-final of the year and first at the 1000 level.

“I was able to stay aggressive on returns even though she has a really good serve,” Navarro said in an on-court interview.

“Played some better service games in the third set and just was able to put a lot of pressure on her throughout. I think that’s what made the difference.”

Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion, trailed 1-4 in the third set and won just one more game before getting broken on Navarro’s second match point. “It’s never easy coming out and playing an opponent like that, so experienced and just so talented, obviously,” Navarro said. “She made it really tough on me today, but I was able to play some good tennis in the big moments.”