Teenager Holger Rune moved to within one win of capturing his second ATP Masters 1000 title Saturday when he moved past Jannik Sinner 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 in a late-night thriller at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

In a battle between two of the brightest talents on Tour, it was the 19-year-old Rune who handled the conditions and pressure the best in a rain-disrupted clash on Court Rainier III. The Dane struck his clean groundstrokes with aggression in the heavy conditions and recovered from a slow start against the 21-year-old Italian to advance after two hours and 46 minutes.

“It was quite unbelievable,” Rune said. “Jannik started firing, hitting a lot of winners and he has been in good form the past few months. I had to dig deep and find solutions, which I did well. It was fun to play like this.”

Attack + Defence = Winning 📈

More clinical attacking and brilliant defence from @holgerrune2003 👏

Can the Holger 🚂 keep rolling ⁉️#TennisInsights | @atptour | @ROLEXMCMASTERS pic.twitter.com/Jeg8cV9Eat

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) April 15, 2023

With his 17th tour-level win of the season, Rune has improved to 2-0 in his ATP Head2Head series against Sinner. The Dane is up two spots to No. 7 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings and can rise to a career-high No. 6 by claiming his eighth tour-level crown on Sunday.

Rune defeated Novak Djokovic in the championship match in Paris last season and will aim to clinch his second ATP Masters 1000 crown when he takes on Andrey Rublev in Sunday’s final.

Competing in heavy conditions, seventh seed Sinner and sixth seed Rune looked to dictate in the brutal baseline exchanges. After Sinner dominated the first set, both hammered the ball with unrelenting force following the 47-minute rain delay which came when Rune led 3-0 in the second set.

From 2-5, Sinner rallied to level at 5-5, saving two set points on serve at 4-5. However, Rune would not be denied, capitalising on Sinner errors to reel off eight of the last 10 points of the set to level.

In a tight deciding set, the 19-year-old used the drop shot effectively to pull Sinner around in a rivalry that fans will become accustomed to watching in the next decade. Locked in battle at the end of the third set, it was Rune who gained the decisive break in the 12th game of the set, triumphing when Sinner struck the net.

Sinner was competing in his third consecutive ATP Masters 1000 semi-final, having reached the last four in Indian Wells and the title match in Miami. The Italian, who beat Diego Schwartzman, Hubert Hurkacz and Lorenzo Musetti earlier this week, leaves the Principality 24-6 on the season.

“For sure it has changed when we went out off the court and with the rain, and after it was much slower, for sure,” reflected Sinner. “[But] it was for both of us. The beginning was [very] windy. I managed very well the situation. Then after the rain delay, I had a difficult time in the match. That third set was just little roller coaster and went his way.”

Andrey Rublev overcame a resilient Taylor Fritz and damp conditions to reach the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters championship match on Saturday.

The fifth-seeded Rublev rallied to a 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 semi-final victory at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000. Rublev kept his cool despite losing an opening set that he had thrice led by a break of serve. He dialled in behind his powerful forehand to dominate the second set before rain forced the players off for the best part of two hours with Rublev leading 3-2 in the decider.

While Fritz struggled to rouse his best level again after the restart, Rublev resumed where he had left off. He produced some razor-sharp returning to break the American’s serve immediately for 4-2 and held firm behind his own delivery to seal a two-hour, seven-minute triumph.

“It was really tough, especially against Taylor,” Rublev said. “I lost past three times [against him] I think, [including] in Indian Wells in the semi-finals. It was tough mentally to play against him because I was thinking if I would have [a chance].

“I started really well and then I was up a break and then he broke me back, but I knew I would have chances. In the end we had a great match and I am pleased with the win.”

With victory in his first tour-level match against Fritz on clay, Rublev advanced to the Monte-Carlo final for the second time. He fell to Stefanos Tsitsipas at the final hurdle in the Principality in 2021, but the 25-year-old will hope to banish memories of that disappointment when he meets Holger Rune or Jannik Sinner in Sunday’s championship match.

Rublev is a five-time champion at ATP 500 level but is chasing his maiden ATP Masters 1000 trophy this week at the Monte-Carlo Country Club. He is now 17-8 for the 2023 season, a tally which also includes a run to the Dubai championship match in February.

Fritz had won all four of his previous ATP Masters 1000 meetings with Rublev, and the American frequently demonstrated his rapidly improving movement on clay throughout a topsy-turvy opening set. Despite dropping serve three times early, the eighth seed won three games in a row from 4-5 to move within a set of his maiden tour-level final on clay.

Rublev upped the accuracy of his clean ballstriking from then on, however, and he broke Fritz’s serve a further five times across the second and third sets to complete his victory. The World No. 6’s greater consistency from the baseline proved decisive, as he finished with 26 winners to 16 unforced errors in comparison to Fritz’s ratio of 21 to 26.

Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn continued their dream run at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters Saturday when they clawed past Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz 7-6(7), 4-6, 10-7 to reach their maiden ATP Masters 1000 final as a team.

In a tight clash, the wild cards saved four set points en route to winning the first set and then raised their level in the Match Tie-break to triumph after two hours and 10 minutes against the German pair.

Arneodo and Weissborn have earned standout results in the Principality, upsetting seeds Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury and Lloyd Glasspool/Harri Heliovaara earlier this week. Home favourite Arneodo and Austrian Weissborn will face Fabrice Martin and Andreas Mies or Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek in Sunday’s title match.

Earlier this season, Arneodo and Weissborn clinched an ATP Challenger Tour title before they reached the semi-finals at a tour-level event in Marseille.

Carlos Alcaraz arrives at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell as the top seed and defending champion, but the Spaniard will have to pass some tough early tests if he wants to repeat his 2022 triumph at the clay-court ATP 500.

View Draws: Barcelona | Banja Luka | Munich

The World No. 2 opens his campaign against Ilya Ivashka or Nuno Borges at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899. His fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut is a potential third-round opponent while fifth seed Frances Tiafoe, fresh from winning his maiden clay-court ATP Tour title in Houston, is seeded to meet Alcaraz in the quarter-finals.

Alcaraz fell to Tiafoe in straight sets on his Barcelona main-draw debut in 2021, but charged to the title in Catalunya a year later by completing semi-final and championship-match wins on the same day. The 19-year-old is playing his first event since he enjoyed a successful ‘Sunshine Double’ in March, when he lifted his third ATP Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells before reaching the semi-finals in Miami.

Casper Ruud, a nine-time tour-level titlist on clay, is also in the top half of the Barcelona draw. The third seed opens against an American, Mackenzie McDonald or Ben Shelton. Sixth seed Karen Khachanov is a potential quarter-final opponent for Ruud as he looks to bounce back from his third-round exit at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas headlines the bottom half of the draw, where the Greek will take on Pedro Cachin or Gijs Brouwer first up. Alex de Minaur, who held two match points before losing to Alcaraz in the 2022 semi-finals, is a potential quarter-final opponent for Tsitsipas.

Jannik Sinner is the highest-ranked player in a stacked third quarter of the draw. The fourth seed, a 2021 semi-finalist, plays Diego Schwartzman or Wu Yibing in his opening match. Seventh seed Cameron Norrie and ninth seed Lorenzo Musetti are potential quarter-final opponents for the 21-year-old.

Djokovic May Face Opening Wawrinka Test In Banja Luka
The Srpska Open in Banja Luka could host a heavyweight second-round clash between World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and 16-time tour-level titlist Stan Wawrinka. The Swiss must defeat #NextGenATP Frenchman Luca Van Assche to set a 27th ATP Head2Head clash against Djokovic (who leads their rivalry 20-6) at the ATP 250.

Sixth seed Jiri Lehecka against Gael Monfils headlines the first-round action at the clay-court event in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where second seed Andrey Rublev has been drawn to face Hugo Gaston or Juan Pablo Varillas first.

Former Champs Zverev & Rune In Same Half Of Munich Draw
Holger Rune enters an ATP Tour event as defending champion for the first time at the BMW Open by American Express, but two-time champion and home favourite Alexander Zverev could stand in his way in Munich.

Rune and Zverev are potential quarter-final opponents at the ATP 250, where the Dane prevailed in straight sets in the pair’s second-round meeting last season. The second seed in Bavaria is Taylor Fritz, who will face former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem in the third round should both players reach that stage.

Fabrice Martin and Andreas Mies were down two match points against Francisco Cerundolo and Daniel Evans in the opening round Monday.

Now, the French-German duo is into the semi-finals at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

Martin and Mies, who are playing their first tournament as partners this season, advanced to the last four Friday after upsetting top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski 5-7, 6-3, 10-7 in one hour, 44 minutes.

Despite trailing 3/6 in the Match Tie-break, Martin and Mies rallied to win seven of the next eight points and advance to the semi-finals at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Both ranked inside the Top 30 of the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings, Martin and Mies will next meet Rotterdam champions Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek, who advanced after the withdrawal of singles semi-finalists Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune.

In the bottom half of the doubles draw, Friday was an upset special. Wild cards Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn defeated three-time tour-level titlists Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara 6-2, 7-6(3). Home favourite Arneodo and Austrian Weissborn will look to continue their run Saturday, when they meet Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz, who ousted third seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-2, 6-4 in the quarter-finals.

Never shy of admitting his preference for hard courts over clay, Daniil Medvedev is cherishing his achievements on the latter this week at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

The third seed fell to a straight-sets quarter-final defeat against Holger Rune on Friday at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000 event. Yet he leaves Monaco feeling good about adding two more wins to his Tour-leading tally for 2023, and Thursday’s battling third-round victory against Alexander Zverev in particular.

“It was not bad,” said Medvedev, who is now 31-4 on the season, of his run to the last eight in the Principality. “I beat good players on clay. Yesterday evening [against Zverev] was magic. It was very tough on clay. It’s not easy to win matches like this.

“[Rune] played very well. I could have played a bit better, but if we talk about clay again, I’m not as at ease as he is on clay. I believe he’s better on that surface, and I think in the following years he’s going to be very strong on clay. So overall, it’s very positive. There are other big tournaments coming up. We’ll see what I do there, but I’m very happy with this tournament in Monte-Carlo.”

Medvedev has spoken about the challenge of hitting through opponents on clay as effectively as he does on hard courts. The former World No. 1 is working hard to identify the best way to counter his rivals on slower surfaces.

“There are things I’m trying to change,” said the 19-time tour-level titlist. “I’m trying to change the directions and have a bit of more topspin, because if you play flat on clay, it doesn’t work, especially against the better players.

“I believe my game was not so bad [against Rune], except that he was more decisive in important moments and he feels when he needs to be aggressive or defensive. This is something I feel well on hard courts and not as well on clay. So, I’m not sure I can change that, but I will try. If one day I’m able to become a monster on clay, I’m happy.”

After tasting defeat in his first ATP Head2Head meeting with Rune, Medvedev was full of praise for a player he believes possesses a natural ability on clay.

“He played good. He’s a great player on clay,” said Medvedev of the 19-year-old Dane, who reached his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros last year. “I feel like that’s the surface that suits him the best with his heavy topspin strokes. I think he’s a very dangerous player on clay for the years to come.”

The loss to Rune was just Medvedev’s second defeat in his past 28 tour-level matches. His red-hot run, which has included titles in Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai and Miami, has propelled the 27-year-old to first place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

On Monday, he will move within 2000 points of World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, and Medvedev has fewer points to defend than both World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz across the rest of the European clay-court swing.