ITALIAN CHOP: Unfancied Sonego upsets Rublev in a 5-set thriller

PARIS: Italian Lorenzo Sonego battled back from two sets down to knock seventh seed Andrey Rublev out of the French Open on Friday and reach the last-16 for the second time.

The World No.48 was two points away from defeat during a fourthset tie-break but prevailed 5-7, 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 after three hours and 42 minutes on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Sonego will face Russian 11th seed Karen Khachanov for a possible quarter-final meeting with 22-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.

“Incredible comeback today (Friday),” Sonego said. “I played more aggressive than in the first and second sets because when he (Rublev) is aggressive, it is tough to compete against him. I played with the right attitude and I changed everything,” added Sonego.

It was a surprise defeat for Russian Rublev who had reached the last-eight on each of his past three Slam appearances and won the Monte Carlo Masters this season.

Rublev led 5-4 in the fourth-set breaker but the momentum switched when Sonego forced a decider which he took thanks to a break of serve in the eighth game.

Meanwhile, two-time champion Djokovic huffed and puffed but forced his way into the fourth round following a 7-6(4), 7-6(5), 6-2 win over 29th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina from Spain.

Djokovic, who is aiming to leapfrog injured champion Rafael Nadal and win a 23rd Grand Slam title, came into the match at Court Philippe Chatrier having lost to Davidovich Fokina the last time they met in Monte Carlo.

Pegula loses to Mertens

Jessica Pegula quickly gathered her belongings and marched out of Court Philippe Chatrier after a 1-6,

3-6 loss to Elise Mertens in the third round, a far earlier exit than the No. 3-seeded American has been used to at Grand Slam tournaments lately.

Pegula was a quarter-finalist at four of the five most recent major events, including a year ago at Roland Garros.

She has never gone further than that stage at a Slam and never really got into this match against the 28th-seeded Mertens on a day with a breeze at about 10 mph (15 kph) and a chill in the low 60s Fahrenheit (low teens Celsius).

“I feel like I was still playing good points. Elise was just being really tough, not making a lot of errors and making me play every single ball. And with the windy conditions, I felt like it definitely played into her game,” said Pegula. Mertens is a Belgian who was a semifinalist at the 2018 Australian Open and twice has reached the US Open quarter-finals.

RESULTS: Third round: Men’s singles: N Djokovic bt A Davidovich Fokina 7-6(4), 7-6(5), 6-2; L Sonego bt A Rublev 5-7, 0-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3; F Fognini lost to S Ofner 7-5, 3-6, 5-7, 6-1, 4-6. Women’s singles: E Mertens bt J Pegula 6-1, 6-3; A Sabalenka bt K Rakhimova 6-2, 6-2; E Svitolina bt A Blinkova 2-6, 6-2, 7-5