Holger Rune, the fourth seed, had a dominant start in his quarterfinal match against Matteo Berrettini in the Acapulco Open. He won the first set with a resounding 6-0 lead and was leading 1-0 in the second set when Berrettini, frustrated and overpowered, approached Rune to say goodbye and left the pitch amidst boos from the fans. The clock had barely marked 29 minutes and 50 seconds of play. Moments before leaving the game, Berrettini had hit his racket against the court out of discomfort from being overcome by Rune’s play.
Rune was visibly annoyed by Berrettini’s attitude and called it “strange.” He said, “I was playing very well, I had a perfect match, but I wish him the best.” Earlier during the match, there was a suspension of about 20 minutes due to unusual rain when Rune led 4-0 in the first set.
In the semifinals, Rune will face Australian Alex de Minaur, whom he has beaten in their previous two encounters. De Minaur beat Taro Daniel with a double 6-2 in his quarterfinal match.
The other semifinal will see Americans Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz competing against each other. Paul beat MacKenzie McDonald with a double 6-2, while Fritz defeated Frances Tiafoe, the sixth seed, in two sets with a score of 6-3 and 6-4.
The Acapulco Open is an ATP 500 category tournament with a prize pool of 1.8 million dollars that is played on the hard surface courts of the GNP Arena.
The Friday semifinals promise to be exciting with Rune and De Minaur facing each other once again, and with Paul and Fritz battling it out for a place in the finals.
