Rublev Stumbles, But Gets Up To Deliver Knockout At Wimbledon

Russian star Andrey Rublev appeared in danger of losing in the first round for the second consecutive Grand Slam on Monday after dropping the first set. But the fifth seed quickly gained the momentum to reach the second round at Wimbledon.

Rublev rallied past in-form Argentine Federico Delbonis 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 after two hours and 15 minutes to remain perfect in the first round at The Championships (3-0).

The 23-year-old earlier this month made his first tour-level final on grass when he advanced to the championship match in Halle. Now the big-hitting righty will try to reach the third round at SW19 for the first time when he plays big-serving South African Lloyd Harris or Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis in the second round. Harris led Berankis 6-3, 6-4 when play was suspended for the evening due to darkness.

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Rublev got himself in trouble in the opening set by making 12 unforced errors, which allowed Delbonis to maintain a sense of comfort on the fresh grass. But once the Russian tightened up his game — he made no more than seven unforced errors in each of the next three sets — he was able to take control.

The World No. 7 lost his serve just once in the final three sets, and that was enough to pull away from his lefty opponent in their first ATP Head2Head clash. Rublev hit 40 winners in his victory.

Delbonis arrived in London playing good tennis. At Roland Garros, the 30-year-old made the fourth round. But he is now 0-6 in the main draw at the grass-court Grand Slam.

In the same section of the draw, 26th seed Fabio Fognini led Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6(4), 6-2 when play was suspended due to darkness. The Italian leads their ATP Head2Head series 8-2, but he lost their two most recent clashes in straight sets.