Japan Open: Rune comes back to beat Nishikori, enters the semis

Holger Rune defeated home favorite Kei Nishikori on Sunday in Tokyo by saving a match point as he pursues his first ATP Tour championship of the year.

The 21-year-old overcame two-time Tokyo champion Nishikori 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 in two hours and sixteen minutes to reach the semifinals at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships.

“His ball striking and feel on the ball was incredible and it was very challenging for me,” Rune said in his post-match interview. “I had to find another gear to be able to beat him and it was almost not enough, but I managed to find that level and find that fighting spirit to beat him.”

The Dane was serving at 3-5 in the final set with a time violation, but he responded with a strong first serve to avoid further difficulty and go one step closer to winning his first title of the year. This season he has made it to one final, at Brisbane, where he was defeated 4-6, 6-7(5) by Grigor Dimitrov.

In their first Lexus ATP Head2Head match, the Dane prevailed 39 games to none, according to Infosys ATP Stats. In addition, Rune turned away six of the eight break points he faced to become the sixth player of the year to reach six tour-level semifinals.

In the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin, the world number 14 is presently ranked sixteenth. His goal is to make it to his second consecutive Nitto ATP Finals. In the final four, he will either play #NextGenATP star Arthur Fils or eighth seed Ben Shelton.