Gritty resolve steered fifth seed Andrey Rublev to his sixth grand slam quarter-final on Monday night after he saved two match points to cling on and force a super-tiebreaker in a five-set thriller against ninth seed Holger Rune on Rod Laver Arena.
And in a concurrent five-set battle, 20-year-old American up-and-comer Ben Shelton beat countryman JJ Wolf to make the quarters in what is just his second grand slam appearance.
Andrey Rublev.Credit:Getty Images
It was a brutal outcome for Rune on centre court, having failed to serve out the match at 5-3 in the decider, then losing two match points as Rublev was serving to stay in it at 5-6 and squandering a 5-0 lead in the resulting super-tiebreaker.
The big-serving Russian consistently came up with the goods under pressure, including a ripper forehand that caught the line by just a millimetre to bring the breaker back on serve, and a 207 km/h ace down the tee to hit the lead.
But the Danish Rune saved two match points of his own, including a stunning backhand winner down the line to even the tiebreak at 9-9 – which had the supportive crowd on its feet and the 19-year-old willing them for more.
But again Rublev was able to dominate the next point with a big serve out wide, and then benefited from a very lucky net cord which just dropped over to the Rune side of the net to seal the match 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(11-9).
Andrey Rublev, left, and Holger Rune traded the lead over three-and-a-half hours but it was the Russian who triumphed in a super-tiebreak.Credit:AP
“That ball was exactly on my side and I don’t know how he went over,” Rublev said on court afterwards. “I have no words, man, I’m shaking.”
While not the final point the match deserved, it was a fitting cap to an unpredictable battle where the lead traded places several times, including within the super-tiebreak itself, and where both men proved themselves capable of quickly recovering from disappointment.
Rublev, 25 and from Russia, will need to channel that tenacity to advance to his first grand slam semi-final. To do so he will need to beat either nine-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic or Australia’s own Alex De Minaur, who were scheduled to play their fourth round match later on Monday night.
“Nobody wants to face Novak,” Rublev conceded.
Holger Rune, who is 19 and played only his second Australian Open main draw, had plenty of opportunities to seal the match.Credit:Getty
Though the scoreboard and tiebreak indicated a nail-biting contest, Rublev was the better player for most of the match, winning 168 points to Rune’s 158, and serving at a higher level. Rune landed just 56 per cent of first serves and clocked up 12 double faults in the first four sets – though he improved his serve markedly in the decider.
Rublev, meanwhile, hit 58 winners and 37 unforced errors for the match – compared to Rune’s 44 winners and 60 unforced errors.
A disappointed Rune said the loss was “not the end of the world” but would take some time to get over. “This one hurts a lot,” he said. “I had all the chances I could wish for, I just didn’t close them.
“He was better than me in important moments. He was maybe a little bit more lucky than I was. I was maybe a bit passive on a few points, but he could have missed a few, [instead] he made them.”
Meanwhile on John Cain Arena, Shelton – ranked No.89 and enjoying his first trip outside the US – won the fifth set 6-2 to secure his path to the final eight, winning the match in three hours and 47 minutes.
Wolf, who is ranked No.67, won the first set 7-6 after clinching the tiebreaker 7-5. From there, little separated the players as they went set-for-set before sending the clash into a decider.
Wolf had called the physio at the end of the fifth game in the final set to receive treatment to his thigh. Shelton said it was a “gruelling match” against his fellow American.
“There were a lot of swings throughout the match, it was going to him, and then me,” he said on court afterwards. “It’s always tough playing a friend … I knew it was going to be a battle.”
Shelton will face the winner of a fourth round encounter between Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain and American Tommy Paul, who were locked at a set apiece at press time on Monday night.
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