Wimbledon 2023: Andrey Rublev, Alexander Zverev and Matteo Berrettini among winners on packed Day 4 at SW19

Andrey Rublev faced a battle to reach the third round at Wimbledon as he fought back from a set down to avoid an upset against Aslan Karatsev.

The seventh seed found himself in trouble after losing an opening set tie-break, but recovered strongly to claim a 6-7(4) 6-3 6-4 7-5 victory in two hours and 52 minutes.

Rublev will face wild card David Goffin or Chilean qualifier Tomas Barrios Vera next at SW19.

The Russian produced 12 aces and 34 winners, breaking his opponent five times to earn a big win.

The world No. 7’s previous best run at Wimbledon was to the fourth round in 2021, with his other two appearances ending in round two.

It was a furiously busy day at the All England Club, with rain-delayed first round matches taking place at the same time that other players were sealing passage to round three.

Alexander Zverev cruised through the first round with a 6-4 7-6(4) 7-6(5) win over Gijs Brouwer.

The 19th seed landed 20 aces and 45 winners and remained unbroken during a commanding win that took two hours and 15 minutes.

Zverev will face lucky loser Yosuke Watanuki next for a place in the third round.

The winner of that tie will face either Matteo Berrettini or Alex de Minaur, who will face off in the second round after beating Lorenzo Sonego and Kimmer Coppejans respectively.

Berrettini, a runner-up at SW19 in 2021, beat his compatriot 6-7(5) 6-3 7-6(7) 6-3, while 15th seed and Queen’s finalist De Minaur won 6-7(5) 6-3 6-3 7-6(2).

Halle champion Alexander Bublik progressed to the third round with a 6-3 7-6(5) 6-0 victory over JJ Wolf, while Quentin Halys took out Aleksandar Vukic 6-3 6-1 6-4

Home favourite Jan Choinski’s run came to an end in round two against Hubert Hurkacz with a 4-6 4-6 6-7(3) defeat.

But there was joy for Stan Wawrinka, who eliminated No. 29 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-2 to set up a third-round clash with defending champion Novak Djokovic.

No. 31 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina won a delayed first-round clash with Arthur Fils 7-6(3) 6-1 6-2, while Roberto Carballes Baena beat Matteo Arnaldi 6-7(0) 6-3 6-4 6-4.

Nicolas Jarry, seeded 25th, won in four sets against Marco Cecchinato, and there were also wins for seeds Lorenzo Musetti (14) and Denis Shapovalov (26) against Jaume Munar and Gregoire Barrere respectively.

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