Andrey Rublev beat Feliciano Lopez 7-5 6-2 6-3 after 1 hour and 32 minutes to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open. Rublev hit 33 winners, including five on his return.
Rublev was not able to convert three break points at 3-2 in the opening set, but earned a late break to closed out the first set 7-5.
Rublev faced one break point and got two breaks in the fourth and eighth game of the second set and in the second game of the third set to close out the match with a love service game. The Russian player has improved his winning streak to 7-0 this year, including four wins en route to the triumph in the ATP Cup.
“The first set was a really nervous one. I had a couple of chances and he had a couple of chances but, in the end, I made it. After the first set, I started to feel a little bit better and I think he was a little bit more down because he had tough matches in the first two rounds. He was maybe a bit more tired and I feel confident. I was playing better and better”, said Rublev.
Rublev, who joins his ATP Cup teammates Danil Medvedev and Aslan Karatsev in the fourth round, will take on last year’s Rome Masters 1000 semifinalist Casper Ruud, who beat Radu Albot 6-1 5-7 6-4 6-4.
Rublev leads 2-0 in his previous two head-to-head matches against Ruud. The Norwegian equalled his father Christian Ruud, who reached the second week at the Australian Open in 1997.
“It is going to be really tough against Ruud. Casper is a really tough player. We played a couple of times and it was always a great match, with great intensity. He is in great shape. He won really great matches, so we will see what is going to happen. I need to prepare mentally and physically. There are going to be long rallies and it is going to be high intensity”.
