Holger Rune Beats Novak Djokovic Again to Reach Italian Open Semifinals

Denmark's Holger Rune (R) and Serbia's Novak Djokovic shake hands Rune won their quarterfinals match of the Men's ATP Rome Open tennis tournament at Foro Italico in Rome on May 17, 2023. (AFP)
Denmark's Holger Rune (R) and Serbia's Novak Djokovic shake hands Rune won their quarterfinals match of the Men's ATP Rome Open tennis tournament at Foro Italico in Rome on May 17, 2023. (AFP)
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Holger Rune Beats Novak Djokovic Again to Reach Italian Open Semifinals

Denmark's Holger Rune (R) and Serbia's Novak Djokovic shake hands Rune won their quarterfinals match of the Men's ATP Rome Open tennis tournament at Foro Italico in Rome on May 17, 2023. (AFP)
Denmark's Holger Rune (R) and Serbia's Novak Djokovic shake hands Rune won their quarterfinals match of the Men's ATP Rome Open tennis tournament at Foro Italico in Rome on May 17, 2023. (AFP)

Twenty-year-old Danish player Holger Rune recorded his second victory over Novak Djokovic in little more than six months, beating the 22-time Grand Slam champion 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 Wednesday to reach the Italian Open semifinals.

Rune, who also defeated Djokovic in the Paris Masters final in November, gave the Serb fits with his rapid court coverage. He made his opponent hit extra balls on points that Djokovic thought he had already finished off.

The 35-year-old Djokovic didn’t appear at his best physically early on and called for a trainer after holding for a 2-1 lead in the second set. It wasn’t immediately clear what the issue was but it appeared that Djokovic swallowed a pill that the trainer gave him.

Djokovic recently returned after three weeks off because of a lingering issue with his surgically repaired right elbow. He’s preparing for the French Open, which starts in 11 days.

Rune, meanwhile, is boosting his credentials as a Grand Slam contender after a solid season on clay that included a runner-up finish in the Monte Carlo Masters, a title in Munich, and now a semifinal spot in Rome in his first main draw appearance.

Djokovic stormed out to a 5-2 lead in the second but Rune rallied back, winning a 34-shot rally with a sublime backhand drop-shot winner to set up a key break.

Rune also called for a trainer late in the second set to have his right leg treated, shortly before the match was suspended because of rain with Rune serving to stay in the set at 4-5, 0-30.

After a suspension of more than an hour, Djokovic won two straight points to break Rune’s serve and take the second set.

Rune then broke Djokovic’s serve twice early in the third.

Djokovic has won the Italian Open six times, including last year, and failed to reach the final only once in eight previous editions — when he was beaten by Rafael Nadal in the semifinals in 2018.

Nadal, who holds the record of 10 titles in Rome, is not playing as he remains hampered by a nagging hip injury, leaving his status for Roland Garros in question.

With Djokovic out of the draw, an 18-year streak of either him or Nadal playing in the Rome final ends.

Djokovic will also lose the No. 1 ranking to Carlos Alcaraz, another 20-year-old player, next week — even though Alcaraz was beaten by 135th-ranked Hungarian qualifier Fabian Marozsan in the third round on Monday.

Rune’s semifinal opponent will be either Casper Ruud or Francisco Cerundolo, who were scheduled to play later.

In the women’s quarterfinals, two-time defending champion Iga Swiatek was up against Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko was facing Paula Badosa.

Rune, who is known for his fiery behavior, got into a heated exchange with the chair umpire about a disputed call during the second set. When the umpire refused to change the call despite Rune saying that the mark on the clay showed that Djokovic’s shot was out, he lost his cool.

“Do you get punished when you make mistakes? You don’t. So please respect the player,” Rune said to the umpire, Mohamed Lahyani. “It’s an absolute joke.”

As Rune’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, motioned from the stands for his player to calm down, Rune then said to nobody in particular, “It’s always the umpire who makes me look like the bad guy.”

Early in the third, Djokovic grew frustrated with Lahyani because of the way he was announcing the score between Italian and English, and when the service shot clock started.



Paris Saint-Germain Looks to Clinch a Record-extending 13th French League Title

(FILES) A photograph taken on November 23, 2020 shows a logo of Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, on the eve of the UEFA Champions League Group H football match between Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)
(FILES) A photograph taken on November 23, 2020 shows a logo of Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, on the eve of the UEFA Champions League Group H football match between Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)
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Paris Saint-Germain Looks to Clinch a Record-extending 13th French League Title

(FILES) A photograph taken on November 23, 2020 shows a logo of Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, on the eve of the UEFA Champions League Group H football match between Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)
(FILES) A photograph taken on November 23, 2020 shows a logo of Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, on the eve of the UEFA Champions League Group H football match between Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)

The one-sided Ligue 1 title race could end on Saturday, with Paris Saint-Germain needing only a draw at home against Angers to clinch a record-extending 13th crown.

PSG's massive 21-point lead means it would have to lose the next seven games and Monaco win them all to overtake the Parisians, who are unbeaten in 27 league games, the Associated Press said.

PSG could finish the league campaign unbeaten, although coach Luis Enrique's side still has to play Nice and has a tricky match away to Strasbourg, with both opponents locked in a tight battle to qualify for next season's Champions League.

This season's Champions League, too, is in Luis Enrique’s thoughts.

Good time to rest players? With a quarterfinal first-leg match against Aston Villa coming up in Paris on Wednesday, PSG can afford to rest several key players against Angers. Coach Alexandre Dujeux's side is 14th and has lost four straight league games without scoring a goal, conceding 11.

However, Enrique is not fond of squad rotation so may field close to a full-strength team at Parc des Princes.

How can PSG lose a game? It is hard to see how, given that PSG has not dropped any points since a 1-1 draw at home to Reims on Jan. 25, winning eight straight games.

A glimmer of hope for PSG's remaining opponents is that the team starts slowly and is prone to conceding early goals.

PSG fell behind early against Saint-Etienne last weekend, and it trailed 2-0 within 27 minutes to second-tier Dunkerque in the French Cup semifinal on Tuesday. PSG ended up winning both matches and scoring 10 goals in the process, but there is still a significant weakness against set-pieces and crosses.

Rosenior makes his mark One of the biggest success stories this season has been Strasbourg's remarkable rise to sixth place under English coach Liam Rosenior.

Even more so considering it is his first season, and that he had only two weeks of preseason preparation with his new players.

Led by striker Emanuel Emegha (12 goals), the Alsace-based side has lost only once in the past 14 league games to join the chase for a Champions League spot.

Rosenior's team is on a four-game winning run heading into Sunday’s trip to play relegation-threatened Reims. It is one point behind fourth-place Nice and three behind third-place Marseille, with the top four qualifying.

“I will never stop my players dreaming,” Rosenior said about making the Champions League. “Of course it's possible.”

He'll find out soon enough.

Strasbourg has back-to-back games against Nice and Monaco this month and, with the race so tight, may need to beat PSG on May 4.

Marseille is in a slump Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi was fuming with his players after last Saturday's 3-1 loss at struggling Reims.

So was midfielder Adrien Rabiot, who questioned the attitude of his teammates.

With good reason, as Marseille's third straight defeat allowed Monaco to move into second place.

But De Zerbi may want to look a bit deeper. Perhaps he should not have allowed his players to get so carried away when, after beating Lyon 3-2 in February, they embarked on a lap of honor and posed for a giant team photo as if they'd won a trophy.

Marseille has lost four out of seven games since. Fans will be looking for a home win against Toulouse on Sunday.