ROME: Holger Rune battled from a set and break down to seal a 6-7(27), 6-4, 6-2 win over world number four Casper Ruud in an absorbing all-Scandinavian Italian Open semifinal on Saturday and meets Stefanos Tsitsipas or Daniil Medvedev next.

French and US Open runner-up Ruud took a tight first set on the back of 22 winners, including 11 on his forehand, and looked well on course for a spot in the final after grab-bing the first break of the match in the second set for a 4-2 lead.

`I told myself at this moment I had nothing to lose, he`s probably going to win the match,` Denmark`s Rune said. `So I told myself to play free and enjoy myself as it would probably be my last set here.

Rune took a medical timeout for a minor shoulder problem and that 100ked to throw Estoril champion Ruud off his game asthe 24-year-old Norwegian surrendered his serve twice to get dragged into a deciding set.

A double-fault gifted Rune a break and a 3-1 lead in the nnal set and the 20-year-old never looked back as he sealed a first victory over Ruud in five meetings.

`I really played some of my best tennis,` said Rune, who beat world number one Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals. `Especially in the matches againstNovak and Casper. Such difficult players to play against. I had to find my best tennis and I actually didn`t find it today until the end. That`s why I turned it around.

The Dane will be playing his eighth ATP final (4-3) and his third this season. He won in Paris Bercy last November and was runner-up to Andrey Rublev in Monte Carlo in April.

On Friday, Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakinafought from 4-1 down in the second set to overhaul Jelena ostapenko to reach the women`s final where she will play Anhelina Kalinina.

The 6-2, 6-4 comeback from the Kazakh in a match delayed by more than an hour and then interrupted due to persistent rain sent Rybakina into her fourth major final of the season after the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami.-Agencies