Roland-Garros: Rublev survives tense match to set up Sinner fourth round showdown
Andrey Rublev edged out Cristian Garin 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 [11] to advance to the fourth round in Paris for the second time in his career
Seventh seed Andrey Rublev survived a tense fourth set tie-break to overcome Chile’s Cristian Garin and book a spot in the fourth round of Roland-Garros in Paris on Saturday.
The Russian, still searching for his first Grand Slam semi-final appearance, got off to a good start, winning the first set 6-4 against the former world No 17, who is now ranked 37th in the world.
Garin, aged 25, bounced back to take the second set 6-3, Rublev once again took the lead in the third set, winning it 6-2 to go ahead.
In the fourth set, Garin jumped to a 3-0 lead, breaking Rublev’s serve twice. But the Russian, a three-time singles champion on the ATP Tour in 2022, fought back to 3-3 and the fourth set went down to the wire.
At 6-5, Garin saved two match points on his own serve to force a tiebreak. The Chilean held five set points in the tiebreak to force a deciding set but Rublev saved each one of them before converting his fourth match point to win the tiebreak 13-11.
The 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 [11] win lasted three hours and nine minutes to move Rublev into the fourth round in Paris for the second time in his career.
Sinner leads Rublev 2-1 in career head-to-head
Rublev’s wins sets up an exciting fourth-round showdown against the 11th seed Jannik Sinner. The Italian scored a 6-3, 7-6 [6], 6-3 win over Mackenzie McDonald earlier on Saturday.
Sinner leads the head-to-head between the two players 2-1, having won their matches on clay. That includes a three-set win over the Russian in Monte Carlo earlier this year.
Paris (Grand Slam): Saturday men’s third-round results (Stade Roland-Garros, clay, EUR 43.600.000)
- Jannik Sinner beat Mackenzie McDonald: 6-3, 7-6 [6], 6-3