Holger Rune, the sixth-seeded Dane, staged a remarkable comeback from a match point down to defeat Japanese veteran Kei Nishikori 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the Japan Open quarterfinals on Sunday.
Rune’s victory was a testament to his resilience and fighting spirit. After Nishikori took the first set, Rune rallied to win the second and force a decider. In the third set, Nishikori held a match point at 5-4, but Rune refused to yield. He saved the match point and won four consecutive games to secure the victory.
“It was about getting that first serve, and if I could save that match point I knew that I could put on pressure,” said Rune, who will face either defending champion Ben Shelton or France’s Arthur Fils in the semifinals. “The momentum shifted a little bit. I lifted myself up, I was more positive.”
Nishikori, 34, has been plagued by injuries in recent years, but he has shown signs of a resurgence in Tokyo. He reached the US Open final a decade ago and was once ranked number four in the world.
“It was a great week for me — great three matches with tough opponents,” said Nishikori. “I would say this was the best week so far. I played very solid, I raised my level.”
Rune needed a medical time-out in the third set, but he refused to let it derail his momentum. “In one moment I thought it was not going to be,” he said. “But I just kept my belief and trusted my fighting spirit, that was really all I could do and I managed to get through.”
France’s Ugo Humbert also advanced to the semifinals after his British opponent Jack Draper retired early in the second set. Draper, who became the first British man to reach the US Open semifinals since Andy Murray in 2012, was looking to build on his success in Tokyo, but he was forced to withdraw due to an upper body injury.
Humbert, who is ranked 19th in the world, will face the Czech Republic’s Tomas Machac in the semifinals. Machac beat American qualifier Alex Michelsen 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 in the day’s first quarterfinal.
