NEW YORK (Reuters) – A tenacious Andrey Rublev survived a marathon U.S. Open encounter on Wednesday when he battled back from two sets down to beat Arthur Rinderknech 4-6 5-7 6-1 6-2 6-2 and move into the third round at Flushing Meadows.
Few would have expected Frenchman Rinderknech to trouble four-times U.S. Open quarter-finalist Rublev, who had a 2-0 winning record against the world number 56, with one of those wins coming in this tournament last year.
The Russian took his time to get going in sweltering conditions on Court 17, and was put under serious pressure early on by Rinderknech as he broke to take a 2-1 lead in the first set.
Rublev, who has struggled to keep his temper under control at times on tour, fought back to level the set at 4-4 but his serve was broken in the next game and he repeatedly smashed his racket into the ground in frustration.
In a gruelling second set that lasted more than 80 minutes, Rublev edged ahead 3-1 but Rinderknech broke back in a game that featured a remarkable 37-shot rally which left the Frenchman lying flat on his back and gasping for air.
Rinderknech went on to clinch the second set but the effort appeared to take a toll on him, and his performance tailed off significantly in contrast to the opening two sets, where he fired 37 winners compared to just 18 in the final three sets.
Sixth seed Rublev gleefully took advantage and tapped into all of his experience to secure victory with four hours and six minutes on the clock, setting up a meeting with Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
