Holger Rune crashes out of Queen’s as Alex de Minaur continues dream run with straight-sets semi-final win

Holger Rune’s bid for Queen’s glory ended with a 6-3 7-6(2) defeat to Alex de Minaur in the semi-finals.

The Dane, bidding for the first grass-court title of his career, failed to earn a single break in a match lasting one hour and 40 minutes.

De Minaur – the 2021 Eastbourne champion – will face Carlos Alcaraz or Sebastian Korda in the final as the world No. 18 bids for an eighth ATP title.

Rune, seeded second in London, was broken in the opening game without winning a single point in a nightmare start and couldn’t force his way back into contention against the Australian.

The seventh seed kept his opponent at arm’s length with a string of solid service games, before breaking for a second time when Rune was serving to stay in the set.

De Minaur saved a break point in the opening game of set two but saved it, while Rune rescued three in game eight with nothing to separate the two players.

Two more break points came and went for the Dane as De Minaur went 6-5 up, and a hold for the 20-year-old set up a tie-break.

The Australian earned two mini-breaks to Rune’s one by the first change of ends, with a lead of 4-2.

A third in the following point put De Minaur on the brink of victory, and he saw things out in composed style with two consecutive points to seal a comprehensive tie-break victory.