Roman Safiullin knocked out Andrey Rublev in the Wimbledon 2026 first round, taking the fifth-set tiebreak 14-12 after Rublev had led two sets to one. The 12-seed’s exit sent him out in the opening round for the second time in three years and kept his recent Grand Slam slide in view.
Rublev led, then lost control
Rublev had the match in hand at two sets to one before the fourth set slipped away. From there, the contest turned into a fifth-set test of nerve, and Safiullin finished it by edging the tiebreak 14-12.
That is the part of the result that changes the shape of the draw for both players. Safiullin moves into the second round, while Rublev is done after a match that asked him to protect a lead and instead stretched into the narrowest possible ending.
Andrey Rublev’s Wimbledon pattern
The loss adds to a run that has not gone deep at the majors. Since the French Open in 2024, Rublev has not made it past the fourth round at any Grand Slam, and this latest defeat comes after his Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2023. The contrast is stark: one strong run two years ago, then another first-round exit now.
Rublev was the 12-seed, so the result removes one of the higher names from the early rounds and repeats a problem he has already faced at Wimbledon. It was the second time in three years that he left in the first round.
Casper Ruud and Hubert Hurkacz
The same early-round context also puts other names in sharper focus. Casper Ruud has won 17 career titles, but none on grass, and his best Wimbledon result is three different second-round finishes. Hubert Hurkacz has eight career titles, won the Halle Open on grass in 2022, and was a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2021.
That split tells the wider story around the surface and the event. Grass rewards players who have already shown they can finish tight matches on it, and Safiullin was the one who held up under the pressure of a 14-12 breaker while Rublev let a two-set lead vanish.
