Andrey Rublev overcame an early injury scare and some furious serving from Alexander Bublik to seal a place in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon for the first time.
The seventh seed battled his way to a 7-5, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-7(5), 6-4, win over the Kazakh player to avenge his loss to him in the Halle final last month. Rublev’s latest triumph means he has now reached the last eight of every major tournament at least once in his career. An accolade that has only been achieved by eight other active players on the men’s tour.
“I was just thinking it doesn’t matter, I lost the third set and fourth set. I said if I keep playing I would have one chance, and in the end I had it, played a really good volley and was able to break him,” said Rublev.
“Every set I had chances, on match point he served full power. I kept thinking just keep playing, don’t start to explode before the match is over. In the end I was able to make it.”
Early on in the match, Rublev took time a medical timeout for treatment for a cut on his finger. A couple of points after that he stopped in visible pain with blood coming from the area. Prompting the return of a doctor to the court. Despite that blip, the Russian held his nerve to prevail in a tightly contested opener. Leading 6-5, he clinched the set with the help of a Bublik malfunction after the world No.26 produced back-to-back double faults.
Continuing to gain momentum, Bublik’s erratic shotmaking continued to play into the hands of Rublev who stormed through the second frame with relative ease. A three-game winning streak moved him to a 5-2 lead. Then tasked with serving the set out, he did so with the help of yet another unforced error from across the court.
Closing the match out was a far from easy task for Rublev who was edged out on the third set tiebreaker. After working hard to claw his way back from a 3-6 deficit, Bublik struck once again with a blistering forehand passing shot to clinch the set.
The cat-and-mouse chase continued into the fourth frame. Rublev had two match points whilst leading 5-4 but failed to convert both of them before going on to drop the second tiebreak.
With all to play for in this match of fine margins, all it took was a couple of Bublik mistakes midway through the decider for Rublev to break and eventually book his place in the next round after more than three hours of play. Although the most impressive point wasn’t the last one, it was the one that took place before. Bublik hit a speedy backhand shot that looked to be a winner before Rublev produced a sublime diving return.
“It was the most lucky shot ever! It was luck, nothing else. I don’t think I can do it one more time,” he said.
The 26-year-old now faces a possible showdown with seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in the next round. A player who he has beaten only once in their four previous encounters. Djokovic will play his fourth round match later today against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.
Rublev has now won 35 Tour-level matches this season. Despite reaching the last eight in four out of his past five Grand Slam appearances, he is yet to contest a semi-final at this level.
