Australian Open: Rublev sets up Rune clash after straight sets win over Evans

Russian Andrey Rublev, the No 5 seed, moved into the round of 16 at the Australian Open after a straight sets win over No 25 seed Dan Evans on Saturday.

Rublev, a six-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist still chasing his first Major semi-final, won 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 in two hours and 10 minutes at Melbourne Park.

The win improved Rublev’s head-to-head over Evans to 4-3 on the ATP Tour.

The Russian, ranked No 6, will play ninth seed Holger Rune next after the Danish teen beat Frenchman Ugo Humbert in straight sets.

“I’m happy with my game today, especially because last time I lost him in straight sets, so I took the revenge. I’m really happy — I mean, the first set wasn’t amazing, but was not that bad. I was just serving well, but I was not doing something special. As soon as I was able to win the first set, I start to feel a relief. I start to feel more confident. I start to feel I can go for extra speed to raise a level.”

Rublev had defeated Austrian wildcard Dominic Thiem (6-3, 6-4, 6-2) and Finn Emil Ruusuvuori (6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-3) earlier in the tournament. Meanwhile, Evans, ranked No 30,scored wins over Argentinian Facundo Bagnis (6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4) and Frenchman Jeremy Chardy (6-4, 6-4, 6-1).

Australian Open (Grand Slam), other third-round results (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 24,297,942, most recent results first):

• Andy Murray vs. Roberto Bautista Agut
• Alexei Popyrin vs. Ben Shelton
• Grigor Dimitrov vs. Novak Djokovic
• Tommy Paul vs. Jenson Brooksby
• J.J. Wolf vs. Michael Mmoh
• Benjamin Bonzi vs. Alex De Minaur
• Ugo Humbert vs. Holger Rune
• Sebastian Korda (29) beat Daniil Medvedev (7): 7-6 (7), 6-3, 7-6 (4)
• Karen Khachanov (18) beat Frances Tiafoe (16): 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9)
• Hubert Hurkacz (10) beat Denis Shapovalov (20): 7-6 (3), 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3
• Jiri Lehecka beat Cameron Norrie (11): 6-7 (8), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
• Felix Auger-Aliassime (6) beat Francisco Cerundolo (28): 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
• Yoshihito Nishioka (31) beat Mackenzie McDonald: 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-2
• Stefanos Tsitsipas (3) beat Tallon Griekspoor: 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-3
• Jannik Sinner (15) beat Marton Fucsovics: 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0