Focus on tennis events, focus on focus matches.
The ATP1000 Rome Masters continues, with a battle of focus between tournament top seed and defending champion Madeokovic and seventh-seeded Danish talent Roone.
A six-time champion, Deyo has played in Rome 17 times, reaching at least the quarter-finals, and has been incredibly consistent, and last year at this venue, the Serbian king won his 38th Masters title, continuing to lead ATP history and the most recent Masters title to date.
Coming to clay-court this season, Deyo is in average form, opting to return in a blessed land after missing Madrid.
After beating Dimitrov in the third round, Deyo said in a postmatch interview that he was getting closer to his best form, and in the last round against British brother Norrie, Deyo won two straight sets.
However, in that game, Deyo and Norrie had a little unpleasant trouble because of a chasing high-pressure ball.
Facing Danish rookie Rune in this match, Deyo said in a pre-match interview that Rune is a top player, very friendly to play with him, and praised his junior as a veritable top 10 player in the world.
First-time world No. 7 Rune continues his recent form, with the Danish prodigy with a 12-2 record in the last three tournaments, finishing second in the Monte Carlo Masters and Munich champions.
In an interview before the match, Rune also paid tribute to Deyo. He pointed out that the world number one is an all-round player, and he is excellent in all fields. You need to give your all to have a chance, and you must use Deyo as a touchstone of your strength, challenge yourself and challenge Nowak!
The two players have previously met twice, with each side winning a tie, and last year's Paris Masters final, when Rooney won in three sets to win his heaviest singles title to date, earning him the nickname "Master Lu".
Deyo served the first set.
At the beginning of the game, the two quickly met each other, and Roone quickly forced two consecutive break points on Deyo's serve, and achieved a break after efficient cashing;
Deyo, who had a bad start, quickly launched a counterattack on Rune's serve, also getting two consecutive break points, but failed to achieve the same result as his opponent, and the No. 7 seed saved the break point to save serve;
In the 5th game, Deyo's serve was in trouble again, and after sending a break point, he hurriedly made a mistake to hand over the starting game, and the game was 1-4 behind;
The Danish genius held on to the advantage and although he wasted a set opportunity in the seventh game, Rouné easily saved serve in the eighth game to win the first set 6-2.
In the second set, it was still Deyo who served first.
Heading into the second set, it was Ronet who still had some advantage, Deyo's unforced mistakes were still many, and the No. 7 seed had a break in the third game, but was stubbornly saved by Deyo.
In the sixth game, the game came to a dramatic moment, Rooney served to lead 40-15, then Deyo hit backball, Roone directly stopped the match, but the bottom line referee did not shout out of bounds. The referee then came down to check the mark and thought the ball had pressed to the baseline, much to the annoyance of the young Roone, and the experienced Deyo seized the opportunity to break serve and extend the score to 4-2;
Judging from the Hawkeye replay after the game, this time it was indeed a misjudgment by the referee, and Deyo's return shadow was nearly 1cm above the bottom line.
Back on his own serve, Deyo easily saved serve and extended the game to a 5-2 high point.
Lune, who calmed down, started again, patiently maneuvered with Deyo at the bottom line, and soon chased the game to 4-5 with a break;
In the 10th game, when Deyo scored two points first, the referee suspended the match due to the increased rain on the spot.
After an hour of pause, the game continued.
After returning, Deyo first used the small ball to get three consecutive break points, and then Roune tried to salute the opponent in the same way, the quality of the small ball was not high Deyo to occupy the field advantage, successfully cashed in the set, 6-4 equalized, the two sides entered the tiebreaker.
The tiebreaker is still Deyo's start.
Came to the tiebreaker, Rune started very strongly, three consecutive points to get 40-0, three consecutive break points, Deyo under pressure forehand return ball was first called out of bounds by the bottom line referee, and then the referee came down to check and give an accurate "iron sand" to change the judgment, but on the second break point, Deyo once again appeared forehand return out of bounds, the opening was broken;
In the third game, Deyo's serve continued to be difficult, and Rune played the world number one with a super defense without temper, and after being broken twice, the game was 0-3 behind;
Rune held on to his second and third serves, leading 5-1 and losing suspense.
In the 8th game, enter Lune's serve to win the game, and the world No. 7 saved the break point to freeze the tiebreaker score at 6-2!
In the end, after a fierce three-set battle, defending champion Novak Djokovic collapsed in the tiebreaker, losing to No. 7 seed and 20-year-old talent Rune to stop the quarterfinals.
The victorious Rouné had a great match, winning two consecutive games against Deyo and reaching the semi-finals of the Rome Masters for the first time.
Congratulations to Rune for winning!