World number one Novak Djokovic held off Holger Rune to reach the semi-finals of the Paris Masters.

Rune beat the Serb in last year's final to claim his first ATP Masters title.

Despite missing a match point in the second set this time, Djokovic clinched a 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 win to leave Rune's place at the ATP Finals in doubt.

Djokovic will play Alex de Minaur of Australia or Russian world number five Andrey Rublev for a place in his ninth Paris Masters final.

Victory for Rune would have secured his spot for this month's ATP Finals in Turin, which features the world's top eight players, but the Dane - ranked seventh in the world - is still well placed to make his debut at the end-of-season event.

However, Poland's Hubert Hurkacz faces missing out on the showpiece in Italy after a 6-1 4-6 6-4 defeat by Grigor Dimitrov that means he cannot break into the top eight.

Dimitrov will play Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals on Saturday following the Greek seventh seed's straight-set victory against Russia's Karen Khachanov.

Tsitsipas, who secured his place in Turin on Thursday and is yet to drop a set in Paris, won 6-3 6-4 to claim his 300th career singles win.

Source: BBC 

BDST: 1039 HRS, NOV 04, 2023
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