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Dubai Duty Free Tennis: Defending champion Rublev does a Houdini act to keep title hopes alive

The second-seeded Russian came through two harrowing tiebreaks and saved five match points to defeat a tenacious Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 1-6, 7-6, 7-6 after a two-and-a-half-hour Centre Court battle

Andrey Rublev came close to being eliminated from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the tournament that he won in majestic style 12 months ago, only to steal victory from the jaws of defeat on Wednesday.

The second-seeded Russian came through two harrowing tiebreaks and saved five match points to defeat a tenacious Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 1-6, 7-6, 7-6 after a two-and-a-half-hour Centre Court battle.

The turning point of the match came in the second set tiebreaker when the 23-year-old Fokina held a 6-1 advantage. However, Rublev showed plenty of character and determination to claw his way back and seal victory at eight points to six.

Knowing that he had just blown the chance to send a big-name packing, Fokina smashed his racquet in frustration which could earn him a sizeable fine for racquet violation.

Neither player dropped their serve in the decider which was once again resolved by the tiebreaker, although this time around it was Rublev who was in control and only needed a min-break to win the set and match.