Preview: Rublev Aims To Extend Grand Slam Streak In Paris

Andrey Rublev will look to extend his streak of Grand Slam fourth-round appearances when he faces Kevin Anderson at Roland Garros on Saturday.

The World No. 12 has reached the fourth round or better at each of the past three major championships and will enter his 10th match of the year on clay (8-1) in strong form. Rublev has claimed 12 wins from 15 matches since the resumption of the ATP Tour in August, highlighted by his run to the Hamburg European Open title last week.

The Russian has been forced to battle his way through to the third round in Paris. In his opening match, he recovered from two sets down for the first time in his career to beat Sam Querrey. Rublev also needed four sets to overcome Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round.

Rublev will be aiming to level his ATP Head2Head series when he faces Anderson for the second time. The South African came out on top in his only previous match against Rublev, beating the Moscow native in four sets at the 2015 US Open.

Anderson is a win away from equalling his best result at the clay-court Grand Slam championship. The two-time Grand Slam runner-up has reached the Round of 16 in Paris on four occasions, including his past two appearances in 2017 and 2018.

Novak Djokovic’s quest for an 18th Grand Slam title will continue on Court Philippe-Chatrier when he faces Daniel Elahi Galan. The Serbian enters the contest on a seven-match winning streak and has showcased his best level in the early rounds.

Djokovic has dropped only 10 games so far in Paris, which includes wins against Mikael Ymer and Ricardas Berankis. The World No. 1 will be attempting to claim sole ownership of second position in the Roland Garros wins leaderboard when he faces Galan. Djokovic equalled Federer’s total of 70 wins in Paris following his win against Berankis. Only Rafael Nadal, who owns a 96-2 record at the event, owns more victories.

Lucky loser Galan has never faced a Top 10 player. The Colombian’s highest profile match came when he met then-No. 11 David Goffin at the Davis Cup Finals last year. Galan survived a five-set battle against Cameron Norrie in the first round of this event, before earning a straight-sets win against Tennys Sandgren on Thursday.

Stefanos Tsitsipas will be hoping to gain revenge when he faces Aljaz Bedene on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. The reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion suffered a straight-sets loss to Bedene at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in February.

Tsitsipas will also be hoping to avoid a recent trend in matches on the tournament’s second biggest court. His past two matches on Court Suzanne-Lenglen have gone to a deciding set. The 22-year-old fell in five sets to Stan Wawrinka on the court in last year’s Round of 16 and also went the distance there when he faced Jaume Munar in the first round.

Bedene is bidding to make Slovenian history. If he can improve to 2-0 in ATP Head2Head contests against Tsitsipas, he will become the first man from his nation to reach the fourth round at a Grand Slam event. Bedene has earned a pair of four-set victories en route to the third round, beating Arthur Rinderknech and Nikola Milojevic.

Like Bedene, Matteo Berrettini will also be hoping to enter the national record books when he opens play on Court Philippe-Chatrier against qualifier Daniel Altmaier. The seventh seed is aiming to join countrymen Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Sonego in the Round of 16. No trio of Italian men has reached the fourth round at a Grand Slam in the Open Era.

Altmaier, who is making his Grand Slam main draw debut, has won five matches and dropped just one set from qualifying in Paris. The 22-year-old has earned back-to-back straight-sets wins against Feliciano Lopez and countryman Jan-Lennard Struff in the main draw.

An all-Spanish battle will open play on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. Tenth seed Roberto Bautista Agut will face US Open semi-finalist Pablo Carreno Busta for the fifth time in their ATP Head2Head series. The pair is tied at two wins apiece, with Carreno Busta triumphing in their most recent meeting in Rotterdam this year. Bautista Agut owns a 1-0 advantage on clay, winning their only previous tour-level contest on the surface at the 2017 Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.

Karen Khachanov will aim to extend his perfect record of Round of 16 visits in Paris. The Russian has reached the fourth round or better in each of his previous three main draw appearances at Roland Garros and will need to overcome Cristian Garin to extend that record.

Garin enters the contest with a 15-3 record on clay this year, highlighted by back-to-back title runs at the Cordoba Open and Rio Open presented by Claro in February. The Chilean also reached the Hamburg European Open semi-finals last week.

ORDER OF PLAY – SATURDAY 3 OCTOBER 2020
COURT PHILIPPE-CHATRIER start 11:00 am
Daniel Altmaier v [7] Matteo Berrettini
WTA Match
WTA Match
[1] Novak Djokovic v Daniel Elahi Galan

 

COURT SUZANNE-LENGLEN start 11:00 am
[10] Roberto Bautista Agut v [17] Pablo Carreno Busta
Aljaz Bedene v [5] Stefanos Tsitsipas
WTA Match
WTA Match

 

COURT SIMONNE-MATHIEU start 11:00 am
Kevin Anderson v [13] Andrey Rublev
WTA Match
Roberto Carballes Baena v [18] Grigor Dimitrov
WTA Match

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