Holger Rune keeps his eye on the ball
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
The quarter final line up at the top half of the draw was settled with the top seeded Holger Rune leading the way by eventually overcoming Russia’s Alexander Shevchenko 6-4 5-7 6-2.
With only three seeds remaining in the draw, the Dane is very much the favourite for the title despite being taken to three sets in both his matches so far.
His biggest threats will come from the bottom half with second seeded Grigor Dimitrov or the Spanish icon Rafa Nadal the most likely to join him in the final.
The ambitious 20-year-old will have to raise him game somewhat if he is to become the Brisbane International champion.
He has basically won his two matches through grittiness and required time to find the answers to players who deploy an attacking game.
Ultimately the Rune serve kept him in the match and he saved three break points in the opening set where he was also the better player when it came to rallies.
He wasn’t very happy when he dropped the second set and focused all his frustrations into the decider where he took an early 2-0 lead and then extended it to 4-0 which was enough to see him over the line.
His next opponent is James Duckworth for a place in the semifinals after the Australian qualifier had ended Yannick Hanfmann of Germany’s hopes 4-6 6-1 7-6(2).
The 31-year-old Aussie saved two match points at 4-5 in the third set, eventually prevailing after two hours and 27 minutes.
Russia’s Roman Safiullin also saved match points to end the hopes of home favourite Alexei Popyrin 6-7(9) 6-4 7-6(3) in two hours and 56 minutes.
Matteo Arnaldi is his quarter final opponent after the Italian defeated the Slovak qualifier Lukas Klein 6-4 3-6 7-5.
The bottom half of the draw is scheduled for Thursday.
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