By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) – Russian Andrey Rublev’s diving skills are becoming a theme at this year’s Wimbledon after another spectacular flight across the lawns during his fourth-round victory on Sunday.
The 25-year-old set up match point in a five-set thriller against Alexander Bublik with a gravity-defying lunge to somehow return a backhand piledriver by his mercurial opponent.
Bublik stood in stunned disbelief as Rublev somehow redirected the ball back into an open court — a point he said he will remember forever, especially coming on Centre Court.
One point later it was all over as Rublev reached the quarter-final of a Grand Slam for the eighth time.
Rublev pulled off another point-winning dive in his previous match against David Goffin and at this rate he could have a show reel to take home after the tournament.
“The feeling that at least I have one amazing point in my career,” Rublev said when asked about the shot after his 7-5 6-3 6-7(6) 6-7(5) 6-4 victory.
“I don’t know if I will ever feel this feeling. At this score, final set, being on Centre Court at Wimbledon in front of all the crowd at this tight score in the end of the match, to make this shot, I don’t know how many times in a life you will have those moments. It’s one of the highlight of my life.”
Boris Becker famously used to take to the air during his Wimbledon reign when he won three titles.
Rublev is an unlikely successor.
“All my life I didn’t know how to dive. I was a couple of times in the past years thinking, ‘Oh, on grass, at least try on practice, try without the ball to do it’. I couldn’t,” he said.
“I was too scared. Then on the match against (David) Goffin, I don’t know, somehow it comes natural. I did a real dive. Then today was this one, I don’t know, one-leg dive, something. I don’t know how you can call it.
“I don’t know how I made it. I didn’t even see the ball. I didn’t even see how I hit it.”
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris)
