Andrey Rublev became the first men’s player to reach the second round at Wimbledon on Monday when he moved past Australian Max Purcell 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

The seventh seed struck the ball with relentless power throughout the one-hour, 33-minute clash and battled hard in the second set, rallying from 2-5 in the second set. With his 32nd win of the season, Rublev maintained his perfect first-round record at Wimbledon.

“I am really happy to be back. You always want to win in straight sets, but it is never simple,” Rublev said. “I was 2-5 down in the second set and I was lucky to be able to come back because in my head I was already preparing for the third set. I hit a few good shots and I was able to come back and I played really well at the end of the second set. To play here with full stadiums at 11am, that is a special feeling.”

Rublev, whose best result at SW19 was a fourth-round run in 2021, will next meet Aslan Karatsev or #NextGenATP Frenchman Luca Van Assche. The 25-year-old arrived in London in strong form, having advanced to the title match in Halle last month.