Rublev had come through a less-than-convincing first outing against Taro Daniel and was helped in part by Pedro Martinez’s foot injury in his subsequent match, but showed promise through the early stages on Friday.
As rain threatened to close the roof, he sensed his chance and drove the Italian from side to side to land the first break.
Those patches of baseline brilliance, however, proved difficult to sustain and consolidation seemed elusive as the errors began to spray from the sixth seed’s strings.
There was an air of positivity about Arnaldi’s cause.
After outfoxing his opponent to finish an all-court point at net with a high backhand volley winner, the Italian beamed widely and raised his arm to an appreciative Suzanne-Lenglen crowd on his way to 6-5.
Story of the match
Arnaldi had never beaten a top 20 opponent on clay or a top 10 rival at a major but stood and delivered in his opening two rounds as he broke French hearts with wins over 29th seed Arthur Fils and then Alexandre Muller.
Rublev had come through a less-than-convincing first outing against Taro Daniel and was helped in part by Pedro Martinez’s foot injury in his subsequent match, but showed promise through the early stages on Friday.
As rain threatened to close the roof, he sensed his chance and drove the Italian from side to side to land the first break.
Those patches of baseline brilliance, however, proved difficult to sustain and consolidation seemed elusive as the errors began to spray from the sixth seed’s strings.
There was an air of positivity about Arnaldi’s cause. After outfoxing his opponent to finish an all-court point at net with a high backhand volley winner, the Italian beamed widely and raised his arm to an appreciative Suzanne-Lenglen crowd on his way to 6-5.
