Wimbledon 2023: Andrey Rublev produces diving forehand winner for shot of the tournament, leaves opponent shocked

Andrey Rublev left those on Wimbledon’s Centre Court awestruck with arguably the shot of the Championships on Sunday. Not just the crowd, his opponent Alexander Bublik, was equally shocked with the sheer athleticism displayed by the seventh seed. During their fourth round meeting, Rublev squandered two match points in the fourth set. In the fifth set, he served at 5-4 with finishing line in sight. At 30-15, Bublik of Kazakhstan hit a thundering backhand down the line. On most instances it would go for a winner or do enough to force the opponent into a mistake. Not this time. Rublev moved swiftly to his right and threw himself and the racket to the ball hitting an astonishing winner in the process. Bublik was left visibly shocked by the shot and the 25-year-old Rublev took in the well-earned applause that came after it.

"That is one of the great shots we've seen here in YEARS!"@AndreyRublev97, take a bow! 😱#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/uEHcbcf1k8

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2023

“It was the most lucky shot ever,” said Rublev, referring to his breathtaking effort. “It was luck, nothing else. I don’t think I can do it one more time.” Rublev eventually won 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-7 (5), 6-4 in three hours and 17 minutes. He will meet one of Novak Djokovic or Hubert Hurkacz in the next round with the Serb leading by two sets to love before the 11pm curfew stopped him.