(Tennis news) On Saturday, June 24, in Halle, Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan shocked the odds by defeating Germany’s Alexander Zverev, the ninth seed. Bublik won in straight sets (6-3, 7-5), setting up a Sunday final matchup with Andrey Rublev of Russia. The 26-year-old Kazakh has never advanced to the championship match of an ATP 500 competition. Given his performance in the quarterfinal, he’ll be confident about his prospects against Rublev as well. 

However, Andrey Rublev, the Russian is currently ahead 3-0 in their head-to-head matchup and is the slight favourite to win the championship. Even still, it will be their first ever encounter on grass, so a surprise is always possible. On the surface, Bublik might end up earning his first championship after demonstrating his abilities in the semifinals.

Throughout the game, Bublik’s superb touch was on full display. The Kazakh made the German repeatedly attack the net with his excellent use of sliced returns, drop strokes, and drop volleys. He took the initiative to advance and win points with volleys while also serving fairly well.

In the fourth game of the match, he defeated Zverev, holding serve to take the opening set. The German, on the other hand, was a little too one-dimensional in his strategy and just attempted to gain points from the baseline.

Alexander Zverev displayed a little more intent in the second set, hitting a few excellent passing shots off his forehand that travelled down the line. He did, however, receive some passes, and Bublik appeared to have the German’s attention.

The first 10 games of the second set’s second set saw the two players maintain their serve, then the Kazakh broke to nil in game 11. He then served out the match easily to advance to the championship. 

Bublik won an astounding 94% of the points on his first serve while hitting 14 aces in the contest. Zverev only managed to win 44% of the points on his second serve and was unable to break him even once. It was a statement victory for the Kazakh, who intends to compete similarly against Rublev.

Also read: Daniil Medvedev faces a shocking defeat in the Halle Open