BRISBANE: Holger Rune produced a quickfire start and a quickfire finish Saturday to reach the championship match at the Brisbane International.
The top-seeded Dane defeated Roman Safiullin 6-4, 7-6(0) to book a final spot on event debut at the hard-court ATP 250. Rune notched the only break of the opening set in the first game inside Pat Rafter Arena and then won the final eight points of the match to clinch his semi-final triumph.
Rune targeted Safiullin’s second serve to great effect as he charged to his ninth ATP Tour final. According to Infosys ATP Stats, the 20-year-old Dane won 69 per cent (21/31) of second-serve return points in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with the World No. 26 Safiullin.
Rune’s championship-match opponent will be second seed and 2017 Brisbane champion Grigor Dimitrov. Rune is determined to stay focused as he chases his fifth ATP Tour crown and his first on an outdoor hard court.
“A lot of food, massage, recovery,” said Rune, when asked how he would be preparing for the final.