Andrey Rublev leads Russian charge into fourth round Swiatek, Pliskova reach last 16

LONDON: Fifth seed Andrey Rublev defeated Fabio Fognini 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in under three hours to enter the fourth round of Wimbledon Championships on Friday.

Rublev converted five of the 13 break-points, fired 13 aces and won 73 per cent of first service points.

The 23-year-old, who is world No. 7, won the first set in 43 minutes. The Italian came back in the second set after having conceded an early lead. He won three straight games after being 2-4 down to clinch the set.

However, the Russian took the third set and in the fourth, he simply cruised. He won five straight games after being 0-1 down.

Earlier, Rublev's fellow countryman Karen Khachanov defeated Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 46 minutes. Tiafoe's straight-set loss was a surprise considering he had beaten third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round in straight sets.

If world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev beats Marin Cilic in the third round match on Saturday, then it will be only the third time since 1968 -- when the Open era began -- that three Russians would reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament.

Igor Andreev, Nikolay Davydenko, and Mikhail Youzhny reached fourth round at 2007 Australian Open while Medvedev, Rublev and Aslan Karatsev did that at this year's Australian Open.

Among other early winners on Friday were 17th seed Cristian Garin, who defeated Pedro Martinez 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, and Roberto Bautista Agut, who beat Dominik Koepfer 7-5, 6-1, 7-6(4).

In women's section, Former French Open champion Iga Swiatek stormed into the fourth round on Friday as her relentless pressure proved too much for Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu, who managed a solitary mark on the scoreboard in a 6-1, 6-0 demolition.

Poland's Swiatek, seeded seven, arrived at Wimbledon having previously won only one match on grass but she looked very much at home as she suffocated her opponent from the start to reach the last 16 with her third straight-sets victory.

The 20-year-old, who won the Roland Garros title in 2020, dropped only eight points on serve in the match and half of them came in just one game.

Eighth seed Karolina Pliskova beat Tereza Martincova 6-3, 6-3 in the battle of Czechs on Court Two to move into the last-16.

Former world number one Pliskova fell at first hurdle in the tune-up tournaments in Berlin and Eastbourne last month but the 29-year-old has yet to drop a set at Wimbledon.

The last time the two met was in the first round of the US Open in 2019 and there was little to separate them then with Pliskova advancing only after winning tiebreaks in two sets.

Although Pliskova made 36 unforced errors and nine double faults, she fired 30 winners past her compatriot who struggled with her first serve and managed to convert only one break point opportunity.

Later on Thursday, Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia got the better of No.31 seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia 6-1, 3-6, 8-6 in one hour and 46 minutes to move into the third round at Wimbledon.

Jelena will next face Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia, who took out Alize Cornet of France 6-4, 0-6, 6-3 in a two-hour, seven-minute contest.

Another Latvian Anastasija Sevastova, ranked 56th in the world, recovered from a shaky start to deny Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, a week after stopping the teenager 6-1, 6-7(6), 6-4 in the first round of Eastbourne.

Anastasija will next face French Open champion and No.14 seed Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic as she bids to complete her career set of second-week appearances at every Grand Slam. IANS

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