Underarm serve backfires on Davidovich Fokina as Rune prevails in five-set epic

LONDON :Denmark's Holger Rune overcame Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3 4-6 3-6 6-4 7-6(10-8) in a gripping battle on Saturday to advance to the Wimbledon fourth round after the Spaniard gift-wrapped match point with an underarm serve.

With absolutely nothing to separate the pair after nearly four hours out on a packed Court Three, the match came down to a final-set tiebreak in which the more experienced Davidovich Fokina cracked under pressure.

With the tiebreak level at 8-8, Davidovich Fokina attempted an audacious underarm serve to try to catch sixth seed Rune off guard but the 20-year-old's eyes lit up and he smashed a vicious winner past the Spaniard to set up match point.

Rune celebrated and Davidovich Fokina gestured towards his box. Rune, who saved two match points in the final set, won the next point when his opponent found the net on match point. The exhausted, but ecstatic Dane lay flat on his back on the grass, soaking up the applause.

"I was not expecting for sure that was going to come. Actually it was nice, because he was serving unbelievable," sixth seed Rune said of the underarm serve.

"But again, I was not expecting it, so I had to be fast with my feet. But wow, what a match! It was unbelievable. It's one of the most fun matches I've ever played."

Davidovich Fokina had looked solid on serve throughout so his decision was all the more baffling.

"I cannot explain what is going through my mind there in that moment because a lot of things are going through your mind, everybody is shouting and you are nervous," Davidovich Fokina told reporters.

"I cannot explain to you what is happening in my head."

It was the second successive year the Spaniard had exited in slightly bizarre fashion, having incurred a penalty point