Russian trio on a roll

After being banned from competing at Wimbledon last year because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s players are making their stem dik at this year’s tournament.

With eight men left standing at SW19, there will be a Russian involved in each of Tuesday’s two quarterfinal matches, with seventh seed Andrey Rublev, 25, facing World No.2 and defending champion Novak Djokovic, while unseeded Russian Roman Safiullin, also 25, will square off with eighth-seeded Italian Jannik Sinner.

Sinner knows it won’t be an easy clash and says: “He [Safiullin] plays very good tennis, I played against him a year ago and it was a tough match. I’m going to be prepared for this one and have to raise my level from the baseline a little bit.”

The two Russians will be joined by countryman and World No.3 Daniil Medvedev in the quarters after he beat Jiri Lehecka to a place in the last eight on Monday.

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