In the second round of Wimbledon Andrey Rublev will play with Aslan Karatsev

At Wimbledon, which started in London, the Russian Andrey Rublev was the first to reach the second round of the men’s singles, confidently defeating last year’s doubles champion Australian Max Purcell in three sets. In the 1/32 finals, the seventh number of the world ranking will meet with his compatriot Aslan Karatsev, who, in turn, played four sets in a meeting with the young Frenchman Luca Van Asche.

The first laps at Grand Slam tournaments are dangerous with inexplicable surprises. Suffice it to recall at least the defeat of Daniil Medvedev from the 172nd racket of the world Brazilian Thiago Seibot Wild at the start of the recent Roland Garros. However, this statement applies to Andrei Rublev to a lesser extent. Having been in the top ten for the fourth season in a row, he stumbled at the start of the majors only once – also in Paris, in 2021, when he lost to the German Jan-Lennard Struff.

The meeting with the Australian Max Purcell should not have presented any particular difficulties for the Russian. In the world ranking, the opponent is now not so low – in 64th place, but alone he performs mainly in the “challengers”, professional tournaments of a lower category compared to the ATP competitions. True, Purcell does this sometimes very successfully. In February and March, he won three Challengers in a row in India, earning 300 ranking points from them – more than is due for a victory in the 250 category tournament. But the main danger for Rublev was that the grass was quite suitable surface for Purcell. It is no coincidence that last year, along with his compatriot Matthew Ebden, he sensationally won Wimbledon in pairs, defeating duos with the highest three seeded numbers along the way.

Purcell’s game, like the vast majority of doubles specialists, is based on a good serve and a quality volley. But at times he is not bad on the back line, although he is very far from Rublev there. At first, the Russian, not without difficulty, kept his pitch, but, having made a break in the sixth game, he confidently brought the first game to the end. In the second set, Purcell went ahead and led 5:2. However, at the very moment when it seemed that the situation in the match would even out, the unforeseen happened. Having lost several insulting points in a row and started a dispute with the judge, the Australian completely lost the threads of the game for a while, while Rublev returned to focus. As a result, starting with the score 5:3 and 30:15 on the serve of the Australian, the Russian managed to win 19 points in a row, which allowed him not only to lead 2:0 in the games, but also to stock up on a break at the start of the third set. In the next two games, the opponents exchanged innings, and then the match rushed to its end at full speed.

Already 1 hour 33 minutes after the first hit on the ball, Rublev celebrated the victory – 6:3, 7:5, 6:4, becoming the first participant in the men’s singles tournament to reach the second round.

This allowed the Russian to avoid additional hassle, because after some time a thundercloud covered Wimbledon, it started to rain, and all matches were stopped, including the one in which his next opponent was determined. Moreover, it was in it that the situation was the most intriguing: Aslan Karatsev, who played with the young Frenchman Luca Van Aschem, led 2:1 in sets, and in the fourth game, with a score of 5:4, he had 40:40 on his serve.

19-year-old Van Asch, 2021 Roland Garros Junior Champion, is a new face in the world’s top 100. He got there only in March, after he won two major Challengers in Pau and Sanremo on different surfaces – hard and clay. It is still too early to assess the prospects of yesterday’s junior due to his short stature, but against the background of Karatsev, the Frenchman looked good and was able to take one set. The game didn’t last long. The Russian got one point with a combination consisting of two touches on the ball, and the other with the first serve. As a result – 6:7 (4:9), 6:4, 6:2, 6:4 in 3 hours and 20 minutes. Having won 57 points with blows right through, Karatsev made 60 unforced errors.

Predicting the winner in the Russian confrontation between the environment is not easy. The rivals know each other very well, two years ago they took the doubles title in Doha, so psychology will come to the fore. In favor of Rublev is the fact that Karatsev is much lower in the ranking, closing the top 50. However, their only face-to-face meeting – the semi-final of the tournament in Dubai 2021 – went to Karatsev, who was then at his peak and took his most prestigious title.

Evgeny Fedyakov