It was all Taylor Fritz at the start, but at the finish it was 20-year-old Holger Rune. 

The rising Dane flipped the script and rallied past the 2022 BNP Paribas Open champion to reach his first BNP Paribas Open quarterfinal in Wednesday’s Stadium 1 night session, saving a match point to win 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-3. 

The rising Dane, meeting Fritz for the second time and seeking his first win against the American, put forth a stunning display of shotmaking prowess down the stretch after he saved the match point. 

He broke open an epic middle set by winning seven of nine points in the tiebreak, then broke early in the final set as he emphatically surged to victory. 

How did he get it done? 

“I just kept believing, always,” he told the crowd. “I managed to raise my level at the end of the second set, I was always behind in the match and I was struggling to break his serve, but once I found my rhythm in the tiebreak, it was very good for me, and I just gained confidence.” 

Fritz was within a whisker of a routine victory. He earned his match point with the Dane serving at 5-4 in the second set, but Rune hit a 99 MPH second serve that handcuffed Fritz and drew the backhand error. 

After a third deuce, Rune closed the seven-minute game with a service winner to level at five-all. 

“It was a crazy match,” Rune said. “First of all I think Taylor played an amazing match and I thought it was a high level from both players – what an end to a night session!” 

The World No. 7 Rune has now reached his 5th Masters 1000 quarterfinal, his first outside of Europe and first on an outdoor hard court with his victory. He also snaps a seven-match losing streak in completed matches against the ATP’s Top 20 with his win over the No. 12-ranked Fritz, and sets a mouthwatering quarterfinal clash with 2023 finalist and No. 4 seed Daniil Medvedev on Thursday night. 

Fritz was bidding to become the first American to reach four consecutive Indian Wells quarterfinals since Harold Solomon in 1982, but he could not match the firepower first-strike precision of Rune down the stretch. 

The loss was Fritz’s first on American soil this season.