"You never want to lose three times in a row against the same player" - Holger Rune relieved after first win over Tallon Griekspoor

In a match that had more than progressing to the next round at stake, Holger overcame Dutch challenger Tallon Griekspoor to advance to the semifinals at Indian Wells.

The Danish star dropped the opening set to his unseeded opponent, but rallied back to secure a 5-7 6-0 6-3 victory in the desert. Rune will face former World No.1 Daniil Medvedev for a spot in the final, after the Russian squeezed past Frenchman Arthur Fils in a thrilling encounter that came down to a third set tiebreak.

The 12th seed was facing Griekspoor for the third time during his career, with the Dutchman prevailing in the previous two instances. However, Rune was able to prevent a hat-trick of losses on Thursday, and later admitted the prospect of losing again to Griekspoor motivated him to play better.

"I managed to find solutions when necessary," said Rune in his post-match conference. "The results so far have been good. I'm very happy to have found the solution in the most difficult moments. Tallon is a great player, so I'm very happy to have qualified for the next round.
"Whatever I did, he had an answer for everything. I had to change my game plan and I started playing differently. I saw that I was starting to have more impact, so I continued on that path. I managed to play in a way that he didn't like as much as before. I found a way to win, and that's what matters. It was good to get my first win against him, that's for sure.
"You never want to lose three times in a row to the same player. I didn't think about it on the court, but it was a good motivation to try to beat him. I didn't want to lose to him, and I'm very happy to have managed to turn things around."