London: Seventh seed Andrey Rublev defeated Aslan Karatsev 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 for his 50th Grand Slam match win and advanced to the third round of Wimbledon, here on Thursday.
Rublev reacted well after dropping the first set to seal a two-hour, 52-minute second-round victory against the World No. 50 Karatsev on Court 2. The 25-year-old claimed the only break of serve in each of the second and third sets before overcoming a late wobble on serve to level the pair's ATP Head to Head series at 1-1.
The Russian was broken by Karatsev when serving for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set, but made no mistake the second time around at 6-5 to advance to the third round at Wimbledon for the second time.
His opponent as he bids to equal his personal-best showing at the grass-court major, a fourth-round run from 2021, will be wild card David Goffin or qualifier Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera.
On the other hand, fourth seed Casper Ruud was unable to join his fellow Top 10 star Rublev in the third round after an inspired Centre Court display from home wild card Liam Broady.
The Briton delighted the home fans with a stunning final two sets to seal a 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory and reach the third round for the second consecutive year.
Broady took advantage of his greater grass-court experience in his second match against an opponent in the Top 5 of the ATP Rankings. He stayed rock-solid from the baseline and won 72 per cent (38/53) of points at the net to wrap a three-hour, 27-minute triumph. His reward is a third-round meeting against 26th seed Denis Shapovalov.
Meanwhile, Alexander Zverev and Matteo Berrettini also enjoyed the taste of victory at SW19 on Thursday. The pair both advanced to the second round after finally completing their long delayed openers at the All England Club.
The 19th seeded Zverev impressed on his first appearance at The Championships this year. He downed Dutchman Gijs Brouwer 6-4, 7-6(4), 7-6(5) to reach the second round for the sixth time in seven Wimbledon appearances. The 26-year-old German, who reached the fourth round in 2017 and 2021, will next play Yosuke Watanuki, who beat Marc-Andrea Huesler 6-7(5), 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(3), 6-3.
Berrettini and his countryman Lorenzo Sonego returned to court for the third consecutive day. To complete their first-round clash. Berrettini had led by two sets to one overnight and the 2021 finalist completed a 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(7), 6-3 triumph on Court 12 in a match that began on Tuesday afternoon.
With his win, Berrettini avenged his loss to his good friend Sonego on the grass in Stuttgart last month. The 27-year-old Italian will play Alex de Minaur in the second round, after the Australian completed a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(2) triumph against qualifier Kimmer Coppejans.—IANS
