Andrei Rublev is in the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam tournament in Wimbledon for the first time. The Russian, number seven, defeated the Kazakh Alexander Bublik in a thrilling duel 7:5 6:3 6:7 (6/8) 6:7 (5/7) 6:4. Rublew meets the winner from Hubert Hurkacz and Novak Djokovic. This game was interrupted when the score was 2-0 in sets – 7: 6 (8/6) 7: 6 (8/6) – for the Serbs due to the curfew in force from 11 p.m. local time.
In the duel with Bublik, Rublev already looked like the sure winner with a 2-0 set lead behind him. After a lost tie-break, the Russian missed two match points in the fourth round at a score of 5: 4.
Bublik subsequently won the second tie-break of the game, but in the end even 39 aces hit by the 26-year-old Kazakh couldn’t prevent defeat. After 3:17 hours, Rublev used his third match point. In the quarterfinals, the Russian meets either Novak Djokovic or Hubert Hurkacz.
APA/AFP/Daniel Leal
Dimitrov dispatches Tiafoe
The game between the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrow and number ten seeded Frances Tiafoe, which was canceled the day before, was also only a third-round game. The American remained without a chance in the sequel, Dimitrov swept the ex-Vienna finalist 6: 2 6: 3 6: 2 from the field.
The 32-year-old Dimitrow will now face the sixth-seeded Holger Rune in a generational duel in the round of 16. “He is a young, talented and very dangerous player. But so am I, minus the ‘young’,” joked Dimitrov on the pitch.