Andrey Rublev’s exit in the second week of the tournament was predicted. In the quarter-finals, Novak Djokovic may be waiting for him, but the Australian Open has already given many surprises. Why not show up for one more of them? So far, Rublev is clearly fulfilling his task and doing what is expected of him – beating opponents of a lower level. Daniel Evans from the UK, to be honest, is also such a player. Although according to the score of personal meetings between tennis players, you can’t say – clearly 3:3. In 2022, Rublev turned out to be stronger twice, Evans once. But this time the best tennis player in Russia left no chance for the British.
Earlier, the ex-first racket of the world Daniil Medvedev lost in the third round of the Australian Open and did not come out in the second week of the championship. For some, it’s sensational, but for some, it’s not, but two Russian tennis players remained in the grid. Karen Khachanov, who beat Francis Tiafoe on Saturday, and Andrey Rublev, who played Daniel Evans on Saturday night. Rublev has recently often reached at least the quarterfinals of the Slams and is now striving for it with might and main.
The upper half of the bracket of the men’s tournament lost not only the main favorite Rafael Nadal, but also Daniil Medvedev. The ex-first racket of the world will now definitely leave the top 10 at the end of the Australian Open for the first time in several years. We hope that Medvedev will still be able to find his former self, and such a fall will only help him in this.
But Karen Khachanov is still holding on there, who is already in the 1/8 finals. Khachanov, on the birthday of his rival Tiafoe, did not give him a chance to celebrate properly – he fought back from 1:6 in the fourth set. Moreover, Karen himself in an interview after the match said that he was preparing for the fifth game. But there were only four of them. “Francis played great. I know it’s his birthday today. I’m sorry. In the last match, I beat the Australian – the stands were, to put it mildly, not happy (laughs). Now beat Francis on his birthday. I hope I will continue to win, ”the Russian commented on his next victory.
Khachanov, like Medvedev, is charged from the stands – and even from negative energy, when they cheer against him. In the match against Tiafoe, the audience was clearly not on Karen’s side and even rejoiced at his mistakes. But still, it’s more pleasant to play like that than with an empty hall. “I love this kind of atmosphere on the court, but I just ask for respect between rallies. I think that rejoicing in a double mistake is somehow not very good. But, again, it’s up to you. If you want to rejoice in my mistakes, rejoice. I don’t mind,” such a kind of challenge from Khachanov.
Almost the entire first set of Rublev’s match against Evans was a tight fight on the court – in the middle, there were still protracted games, where, in principle, both had chances for breaks. As a result, things went to a tie-break, but Andrey did not agree with this – on the first attempt, the set ball was realized, being mentally more confident than Daniel. The Russian won, among other things, thanks to the Winners, who turned out to be twice as many as the Briton.
Funny moment – during the first set, Evans shared food with Rublev. He apparently ran out of bananas, so Daniel kindly threw his opponent. It is difficult to say whether this somehow influenced the further outcome of the fight. But in the following games, Andrey was in the lead with a clear advantage.
In the second game, Evans sank the first serve – it happened around the middle of the game, when he led to zero in the game on his serve, and then lost it. Rublev, on the other hand, began to act more actively at the reception, as a result of which he made two whole breaks. And then he acted at the same pace – he made an early break, after which he could get another one. Evans somehow managed that game, so he had to decide the matter on his serve. Enough touched, and Rublev goes to the next round after Khachanov.
Next, Andrey will meet with the winner of the pair Hugo Humbert – Holger Rune – according to the results of two games, the Dane was ahead.
