It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t smooth, but Andrey Rublev beat Thiago Seyboth Wild in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 7-5, on Monday in Round 1 of the 2024 US Open.
It was their second meeting as professional players, and the second time they faced each other in the first round of a major. Earlier this year at the Australian Open, Rublev won the first two sets, lost the next two, and finally prevailed in a fifth-set tiebreak. Their US Open match was quicker, but the result was the same.
On a sunny Monday in Flushing Meadows, Rublev won the first set by breaking Seyboth Wild in the third game and the ninth and decisive game (leading 5-3) to seal the set with a deep forehand winner down the line.
In the second set, Rublev looked shaky and emotional. He double faulted away the first game and slammed his racquet on the court. But in the next game, he broke back and both players held serve over the next 10 games to force a seven-point tie break which Rublev won handily, 7-3.
By then, neither player had really taken control. The two men had been on court for 87 minutes, yet no one had won more than three points in a row.
The third set was another seesaw battle as both players held serve to tie the set at five games apiece.
Seyboth Wild was trailing 0-15 on his own serve when he slid to hit a forehand and fell to the court. He called for a trainer but in a slow-motion replay, it was hard to tell which foot, leg, or ankle had been affected.
On the sidelines, after a brief chat, the trainer agreed to stand by. When Seyboth Wild returned to court, he lost the next two points to cede the game and give Rublev the chance to serve out the set. Rublev won the next four points and advanced to Round 2.
WHAT IT MEANS: Rublev let a lot of key points slip away and he’ll have to sharpen his game if he wants to make his fifth quarterfinal or better at Flushing Meadows. The 26-year-old has never missed a US Open since his debut here in 2015.
In Round 2, Rublev will face either the American wildcard Christopher Eubanks or France's Arthur Rinderknech. Meanwhile, Seyboth Wild will leave New York $100,000 richer for his two-hour, 20-minute effort in the first round.
MATCH POINT: Seyboth Wild won a US Open title as a junior in 2018, when he beat Lorenzo Musetti to become the US Open boy’s singles champion.
