Wimbledon 2023: Andrey Rublev sees off Alexander Bublik to reach Wimbledon quarter-finals for first time

Andrey Rublev saw off Alexander Bublik in a five-set thriller 7-5 6-3 6-7(6) 6-7(5) 6-4 to progress into the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time, in a match that contained an astonishing point in the final game.

After not featuring last year at SW19 due to the ban on Russian and Belarusian players, it has been quite the comeback for the seventh seed, who has beaten Aslan Karatsev, David Goffin and now Bublik on his route to the last eight.

Discussing the remarkable rally that took him to 40-15 in the last game, Rublev said on court: “It was the most lucky shot ever!

“It was luck, nothing else. I don’t think I can do it one more time.

“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.

“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.”

The entirety of the encounter on Centre Court was closely contested, with Bublik keeping pace with his higher-ranked opponent in the opening set.

But just when a tie-break looked on the cards, the Kazakh faltered, getting broken as Rublev took it 7-5.

The second set took on a hue that had been perhaps more anticipated, with the world No. 7 breaking once to take it 6-3.

Bublik – who had beaten Rublev in the final of Halle on grass last month – had a mountain to climb to get back into the encounter, but he hadn’t progressed to the third round for no reason, and having taken the third and potentially decisive set to a tie-break, the world No. 26 belatedly got on the board in the encounter by taking it 8-6.

What did the fourth set have in store? More of the same was the answer, with the pair so evenly matched.

Three break points for Bublik came and went at 3-3, before Rublev squandered one of his own at 4-4.

But another tie-break was the end outcome, and remarkably it was Bublik who recovered from 4-2 down to take it 7-5.

Rublev looked shattered to have lost his two-set lead, and Bublik took the early ascendancy in the final set by holding in the first game.

Once more though the pair went toe-to-toe, progressing to 3-3 before Rublev got the crucial break.

Then came the breathtaking last game, which saw Rublev dive full length to retrieve what looked like a certain Bublik winner, a shot that took him – one point later – to victory.

Elsewhere, there was a surprise win for Roman Safiullin, who knocked out 26th seed Denis Shapovalov.

Shapovalov took the first set 6-3, but was on the back foot thereafter as the world No. 92 took the next three sets 6-3 6-1 6-3 to record a stunning victory.

Safiullin moves on to play Jannik Sinner in the last eight, after the Italian eighth seed defeated Colombia’s Daniel Galan 7-6(4) 6-4 6-3.

In the top half of the draw, Grigor Dimitrov booked his place in the fourth round by downing Frances Tiafoe in impressive fashion, 6-2 6-3 6-2.

The Bulgarian faces Holger Rune next.

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