MELBOURNE, Australia — Fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open for the third time in four years with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 win over Dan Evans on Saturday.
Rublev hit 60 winners, including 10 aces.
“Every match I’m playing better and better,” Rublev said. “At the beginning of the year, I lost a couple of close matches against really good players and lost a bit of confidence.”
Rublev, who will play either ninth-seeded Holger Rune or Ugo Humbert in the last 16, also thanked Evans for helping him out during the match by giving him a banana.
“I asked for a banana and they didn’t have any,” Rublev said. “Dan had asked for bananas earlier and had two and he just gave me one. He helped me with the energy.”
