Rune maintains Basel form with clinical Goffin win

Holger Rune’s impressive form at the Swiss Indoors Basel showed no signs of slowing down on Friday.

The 21-year-old booked his spot in a third consecutive semi-final in Basel after defeating lucky loser David Goffin 6-2, 6-4. Rune was relentless throughout his 80-minute victory, during which he carved out 11 break points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Dazzling into the semis 🌟@holgerrune2003 has his eyes on the prize in Basel, the No. 4 seed dismisses Goffin 6-2 6-4!#SwissIndoorsBasel pic.twitter.com/A6BHhTAaNz

Rune, who is yet to drop a set this week, is into his 20th tour-level semi-final. With his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head win over Goffin, Rune became the fourth man to reach more than seven ATP Tour semi-finals in 2024.

After improving to a 10-2 record in Basel, Rune is  up to 14th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, 1,045 points adrift of eighth-placed Andrey Rublev.

Rune wasted little time in taking a stranglehold on the contest. He dismantled Goffin’s serve on two occasions to surge to a 4-0 lead before closing out the first set in 39 minutes.

Goffin ignited hopes of a comeback in the second set when he clawed back a break of serve to level the score at 4-4. However, Rune dialled in to reclaim the advantage and serve out the contest with ease.

Rune will next face Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard for a spot in the championship match in Basel.

After taking down two-time-defending champion Felix Auger-Aliassime on Thursday, Mpetshi Perricard maintained solid momentum against Denis Shapovalov on Friday. The Frenchman staged a gritty comeback and ousted the resurgent Canadian 6-7(7), 6-3, 7-6(3), to reach the semi-finals.

Playing his third tour-level quarter-final, Mpetshi Perricard emerged victorious in two hours and six minutes. Using his booming serve to take charge, he hit 46 winners, including 27 aces. The Frenchman also won 81 per cent (58/72) of first-serve points and claimed 50 per cent (12/24) of points at the net.

The Frenchman has hit 70 aces in three matches this week, and a total of 445 aces in 24 matches for the 2024 season, averaging 18.5 aces per match.

The 21-year-old, who started 2024 ranked No. 205, has moved back to his career-high No. 44 by reaching the semi-finals; he is third-highest Frenchman in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.

Shapovalov was seeking his 21st tour-level semi-final.

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