Fifth seed Andrey Rublev surged right into a last-16 conflict with Holger Rune on the Australian Open Saturday and thanked opponent Dan Evans for giving him further vitality by donating a banana mid-match. The Russian crushed the Briton 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 on Margaret Court Arena to make the match fourth spherical for a 3rd time. He will face Danish teenager Rune for a spot within the quarter-finals after the ninth seed survived a nasty fall earlier than recovering to comb previous unseeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7/5).

Despite being world quantity six Rublev, who has gained 13 ATP titles, has by no means been additional than the final eight at any Grand Slam.

He moved a step nearer by defeating his buddy and twenty fifth seed Evans, who threw a banana to him at a changeover when he ran out.

“I didn’t ask him, I asked the ball boy, but Danny asked for bananas earlier and he had two so he just said ‘take it’, and I caught it,” he mentioned.

“He helped me with some energy, for sure. I have extra for sure because I eat banana,” he joked.

Rublev, who was defeated twice in warm-up occasions forward of the match, mentioned he was rising in confidence because the Grand Slam progressed.

“Every match I’m playing better and better and I’m really happy because at the beginning of the season I lost to a couple of players,” he mentioned.

“I lost a bit of confidence, but since the first match (in Melbourne) I’ve been playing really good tennis.”

He subsequent meets the harmful Rune, who shocked Novak Djokovic to clinch his first Masters title in Paris late final 12 months to cap a breakthrough season.

The 19-year-old demolished Humbert regardless of twisting his ankle as he stretched for a shot early within the match, and breaking the autumn together with his proper wrist which additionally wanted therapy.

“Of course it was painful, but I tried to focus on something else,” he mentioned.

“I’m playing on such an amazing stage in the third round of a Grand Slam so I didn’t think about it and I just kept going.

“It was extraordinarily robust, particularly after the autumn, however I performed higher than anticipated, possibly as a result of I relaxed lots.

“I feel every confident, I really like the conditions here and the support is amazing,” he added.

Sabalenka-Bencic Melbourne Showdown

Fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka marched into the final 16 of the Australian Open in straight units on Saturday to tee up a showdown with Olympic champion Belinda Bencic.

The Belarusian swept previous Thirty second-ranked Belgian Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-3 on Margaret Court Arena to burgeon her rising standing as a favorite for the primary Grand Slam of the 12 months.

Sabalenka wanted simply 74 minutes to beat her former doubles companion — the pair gained 5 titles collectively together with the Australian Open in 2021 — however mentioned it hadn’t been as straightforward because it appeared.

“It’s really tough to play against her, especially. She’s a great player, unbelievable fighter,” mentioned the highly effective Sabalenka, who’s but to win a serious.

“I knew it’s going to be tough. I’m super happy that I was able to stay focused from beginning to the end to win this match because she’s an amazing player.”

Bencic, of Switzerland, was simply as assured in her 6-2, 7-5 victory over Italy’s Camila Giorgi on Rod Laver Arena.

Sabalenka and Bencic are each on a roll this 12 months in Australia.

They every gained titles in Adelaide earlier this month, each are but to drop a set in Melbourne and each are actually on seven-match unbeaten runs.

Something must give once they conflict on Monday for a spot within the quarter-finals.

“Sabalenka is a very aggressive player, has a lot of power,” mentioned Bencic, who’s aiming to change into solely the second Swiss lady to win the Australian Open after Martina Hingis, the 1997, 1998 and 1999 champion.

Bencic, who final week returned to the world’s prime 10 for the primary time since 2021, has Sabalenka’s former coach Dmitry Tursunov in her nook for the fourth-round encounter.

“Dmitry was her coach before, so he can help me a lot. I hope so,” mentioned Bencic.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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