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

Russia’s Andrey Rublev reacts during his third round match against Chile’s Cristian Garin at the French Open Image Credit: AI / Reuters / Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

May 28, 2022

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.

Closing it out in style 💯@AndreyRublev97 moves onto the final 16, easing past Garin 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(11). #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/1mtZarYmmS
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 28, 2022

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)