Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik upset Andrey Rublev 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the final of the Halle Open on Sunday ahead of Wimbledon. It’s the second title of Bublik’s career after he won in Montpellier last year with the improvement to a 2-6 record in tour-level finals. He rises to a career-high 26th in the rankings after starting the week at the 48th position. This is Bublik’s first win against his Russian counterpart who currently leads their head-to-head 3-1.
Match analysis;
Bublik snatched a break on Rublev’s very first service game to move 2-0 up. With his seemingly unstoppable serve proving impenetrable for his opponent Bublik quickly took the first set. Rublev, playing in his second Halle final in three years and looking to add to his Monte-Carlo title this season, got his revenge when he managed to convert his third break point of the match at 3-2. He held serve to level but Bublik recovered and went a break up thanks to a superb backhand crosscourt winner at the start of the third set. The Kazakh, who is no stranger to grass with two finals in Newport, did serve a dozen double faults throughout the match but finished it off in style, firing a second serve ace on his first match point to land his second tour title.
Rublev missed a chance to have completed the surface trio of ATP 500 titles and a 14th overall tour title. Rublev drops to 13-8 in finals and is now a two-time Halle runner-up after losing to Ugo Humbert in the 2021 final. The ATP world number 7 Rublev is set to return to Wimbledon next month after missing last year’s edition of the grass-court Grand Slam event when Russian and Belarusian players were barred following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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