Andrey Rublev said he was “a bit unlucky” in the fifth set of his French Open loss to Jan-Lennard Struff – who labelled it a “huge win”.
World No. 42 Struff upset the seventh seed 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 3-6, 6-4 in the opening round at Roland Garros.
“Of course I was thinking that I would like to come back from 0-2 [sets down], In the fifth set, I was a bit unlucky,” said Rublev in his post-match press conference.
Struff will face world No. 104 Facundo Bagnis in the second round in what will be the pair’s first main tour encounter.
“It was definitely a very, very tough match,” the 28-year-old told the press. “I played Andrey twice this year, lost twice in three sets, played twice a very good first set, but I couldn’t get the job done.
“Today I managed to beat him. [It] was very, very close. He fought back, [and] I’m very happy I won 6-4 in the fifth [set]. It’s a huge win for me [at] a Grand Slam against a top 10 player.”
The German crucially broke Rublev as he served for the second set, before coming from 5-4 down to edge the tiebreak.
Rublev showed resolve to take the next two sets – breaking for 4-3 in the third and for 4-3 and 6-3 in the fourth.
The Russian, though, lost serve to fall 2-1 behind in the decider and was unable to convert two break points with Struff serving at 4-3.
(Photo credit Ray Giubilo)
