Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan made ATP Tour history on Sunday, becoming the first player to win a tournament having lost the first set in each of his matches.
Bublik, the No. 2 seed, rallied yet again in beating Croatia’s Borna Coric, the fourth seed, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 in the finals of the Open Sud de France in Montpellier, France.
Bublik won the same event in 2022 at the indoor hard-court ATP 250. He has four tour titles and will rise from No. 27 to a career-high No. 23 in the ATP rankings on Monday.
Improving to 2-0 in his career against current No. 37 Coric, Bublik had more aces (19-5) but also more double faults (6-1). He won 80 percent of first serve points (44 of 55), compared to 58 percent (23 of 55) for Coric.
–Field Level Media
Top seed Andrey Rublev of Russia succumbed to fourth-seeded Francisco Cerundolo 7-6 (6), 6-4 Friday to bow out in the semifinals of the Plava Laguna Croatia Open in Umag, Croatia….
No. 4 seed Magda Linette crushed Polish compatriot and No. 6 seed Magdalena Frech 6-2, 6-1 on Friday to win the Livesport Prague Open in the Czech Republic. Linette saved…
France’s Hugo Gaston saved two match points and 12 of 16 break points in upsetting top seed Sebastien Baez of Argentina 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (6) in the quarterfinals Thursday at…
WTA roundup: Magda Linette, Mirra Andreeva win titles
ATP roundup: Hugo Gaston upsets top seed Sebastien Baez in Kitzbuhel
WTA roundup: All-Poland final on tap in Prague
Former No. 1 Angelique Kerber to retire after Olympics