Holger Rune made a grand comeback to beat Taylor Fritz 2-6 7-6(2) 6-3 on Wednesday and qualified for the Indian Wells quarter-finals where he will lock horns with fourth seed Daniil Medvedev.
Rune fought back from a set down and saved a match point to defeat the former champion.
Rune lost the first set in 32 minutes and looked clueless against Fritz but he was able to force a tiebreak after saving a match point in the second set.
Roane did not look back after winning the second set. Because the twenty-year-old broke his American rival for the first time in the decider for a three-to-one lead.
“It was crazy. I just stayed in the moment and kept fighting. Trying to play better point-to-point. And I was able to raise my level amazingly at the end of the second set,” Rowe said. Which meant everything to the match.”
“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.”
Rowe will face last year’s runner-up Medvedev. who defeated Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-4. In the next round, he lost in the final of the Australian Open en route to his first title of the year.
Rune, who split his two career meetings with the Russian last year, is looking forward to the clash.
“I’m a player that’s going to attack. I don’t care who I play, I’m going to attack anyways,” Rune said.
“Against Daniel, it’s a completely different match than today. The only difference between him and Fritz is the big serve. Fritz is closer to the baseline while Medvedev is further away. HD Live Sports
“Medvedev on this surface is dangerous like Fritz. I’m just going to recover and believe in myself like I did today.”
Earlier, Casper Rode beat France’s Gael Monfils 3-6 7-6(3) 6-4. And now he will face Tommy Paul after easily defeating former American loser Luca Nardi.
After shocking his idol Novak Djokovic on Monday. 20-year-old Italian Nardi was brought back to Earth by Paul. who hit five aces and did not drop serve in a 6-4 6-3 win.