Both players began the match very comfortably behind their service games. The Harris backhand shot was the highlight of the early exchanges of the opening set. He took the ball early, much to Rublev’s frustration. They competed well into a tiebreak but Rublev’s unforced errors cost him the set. Harris rushed to a 6-1 lead in the breaker and ended up winning the set 7-6. The South African had 8 aces and only 6 unforced errors in a set that lasted 48 minutes.
As the match progressed, Rublev’s body language still reflected an agitated player, but the eighth game of the second set was particularly impressive from him. He served well, moved to the forecourt to finish off points with volley winners. He is usually not the type of player who employs the serve and volley play, but he was forced by his opponent in this match to try a different approach, and be more aggressive; consequently, he was rewarded with the second set. He won it by 6 games to 4. He cleaned up his game in that set, finishing the set with 2 only unforced errors. The impressive stats, however, were the 9 points won at net from all 9 times he moved forward, along with all points won behind his first serve.
In the second set neither man wanted to relent. The set had to be decided by another tiebreak. Rublev was still consistently serving well, while Harris served an ace here and there, but was not consistently winning points behind his first serve. Rublev led 5-2 in the tiebreak after a backhand error from Harris. Rublev squandered that lead by sending a backhand return long on the Harris second serve, followed by another backhand shot just missing wide after a 6-shot rally. which was again was on a second serve from Harris. Then, while serving, he committed a double fault. Suddenly, the scoreboard read 5-5. Harris failed to capitalize though and after two errors – a backhand that hit the net and a failed attempt at a forehand volley, Rublev won the set 7-6(5).
Harris enjoyed quick holds of serve during the fourth and sixth games of the fourth set. In the fourth game he served a couple of aces, while Rublev missed a couple of returns as well on the Harris first serve. After a minute shy of the half an hour mark of the fourth set, the players were on serve, with Rublev leading 4-3.
Harris hit his 25th ace in the match during the eighth game, but he could not defend the first break point he faced at a crucial stage of the match. Rublev then served for the match, winning 6-7(1-7) 6-4 7-6(7-5) 6-3. Harris was not without his chances to get back on serve though. He had 2 break points in the following game, one of them, at 30-40 was on the Rublev second serve, but the longer the rallies went in this encounter, the more they favoured Rublev. The game reached deuce after an error from Harris. It was not to be for Harris but Rublev was slightly better during key points.
The Russian is into the third round. This is what he had to say in the post-match interview.
“One of his (referring to Harris) best weapons is his serve. It was tough to do something. I’m happy to be back in the third round. We’ll see what’s gonna happen.” – Rublev
