Rublev downs fellow Russian Karatsev to reach third round

LONDON : Andrey Rublev overcame an opening set blip to beat Aslan Karatsev 6-7(4) 6-3 6-4 7-5 in an all-Russian clash on Thursday to claim his 50th Grand Slam match victory and move into the Wimbledon third round.

Karatsev had beaten Rublev in their only previous meeting en route to his first Tour-level title but the seventh seed exacted revenge on the back of an effective service game and decisive net play.

The pair looked evenly matched for much of the near-three-hour contest as Karatsev entertained the crowd with his powerful groundstrokes, but he struggled to break Rublev and that proved to be the difference.

Rublev, who did not play at Wimbledon last year due to the ban on Russian and Belarusian players, will next face the winner of the match between wildcard David Goffin and qualifier Tomas Barrios Vera.