Holger Rune delivered a masterclass in high risk, high reward tennis on Friday at the BNP Paribas Nordic Open, where he stormed back into the semi-finals in Stockholm.
The top seed and 2022 champion overshadowed his error-strewn start — and a late injury scare — with a scintillating finish to defeat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 at the indoor hard-court ATP 250 event.
Holger hangs tough 👊@bnppnordicopen | #bnppnordicopen | @holgerrune2003 pic.twitter.com/EcIR7oXVtA
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 17, 2025
Despite tallying 19 unforced errors in the first set alone and requiring a medical timeout for his left thigh in the decider, Rune blasted 59 winners en route to his third semi-final of the season.
“Not so good, honestly,” Rune said when asked how he was. “But I’m very happy that I was able to finish the match. I couldn’t have done it without all you great fans. I was really struggling with my left leg, but the energy was very special.”
With the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin heating up, Rune is aiming to return to the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time since 2023. The Dane is 12th in the standings, just five points behind 11th-placed Casper Ruud, who is also in the Stockholm semi-finals.
Rune appeared in trouble after losing three straight games from 3-0 in the deciding set and taking a medical timeout to have his thigh heavily taped. But he roared back with fearless ballstriking to outmuscle the patient Etcheverry and deny him a first hard-court semi-final.
The 22-year-old, who lifted his second ATP Tour trophy in Stockholm in 2022, now boasts a 7-1 record at the event, according to Infosys ATP Stats. He next faces fourth seed Ugo Humbert, who earlier rallied past Lorenzo Sonego 6-7(3), 6-0, 6-3.
Humbert has now won 13 of his past 14 matches on indoor courts, highlighted by his run to the final at the ATP Masters 1000 in Paris last year and his Marseille title in February. Rune leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 5-0.
The second seed Ruud fought off a test from American Sebastian Korda, earning a 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-4 victory after two hours, 30 minutes to keep his Turin hopes alive. Ruud is aiming to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the fourth time. He improved to 2-0 against Korda in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, with his previous win coming earlier this year in Madrid, where Ruud went on to win the title.
Ruud's semi-final opponent will be Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who closed the day by ousting home hope Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-1. Shapovalov is the second active player to reach the Stockholm semi-final on three occasions (2019, 2021), joining Grigor Dimitrov (5).
Did You Know?
Stockholm marks the second time this season that all Top 4 seeds are featured in the semi-finals of a tour-level event. The ATP 250 in Stuttgart in June also featured the Top 4 seeds in the last four.
Watch Extended Highlights from Friday's action in Stockholm:
