If Gasquet had finished that point, as he has done hundreds of times with his eyes closed, the Frenchman would have had three match points which, according to Andrey Rublev in the post-match interview on court, would have been a winner. But it was the Russian who, three games and a tie-break later, raised his arms to the sky to celebrate his victory.
The match started very well for Gasquet, who managed to break his opponent from the start. He managed to hold on to this advantage to take the first set (6-4). The scenario of the second set was then reversed, with a quick break in favour of Rublev. The second set was then reversed, with a quick break in Rublev's favour, and once again he had enough of an advantage to take the set (6-3) and level the score.
The Frenchman then missed the chance to break early in the third set, boosted by a wild crowd. The Frenchman persisted and made no mistake two games later to break 4-2, then 5-2. But the hardest part of tennis is finishing. And for Richard Gasquet, the adage unfortunately proved true. The Russian, seeded second, won the tie-break 4-6 6-3 7-6(3) after 2 hours and 25 minutes of play.
In the quarter-finals, Andrey Rublev will be the favourite against the winner of the match between Radu Albot and Lucas Pouille.
