Jannik Sinner out in Halle: Alexander Bublik wins in comeback
After beating Yannick Hanfmann in the first round, Jannik Sinner failed to clear the second hurdle at the Halle tournament, stopping ahead of Alexander Bublik after a match that lasted 2 hours and 2 minutes in which the Kazakh was good at coming back from a set disadvantage: 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 the score in favor of Bublik, who beats Sinner for the second time in his career (the first time, also in Halle, due to the withdrawal of the South Tyrolean in 2023).
Bublik’s first-ever success against a world No. 1 comes after an excellent start by Sinner, who was able in the first set to take a break lead at the first useful opportunity and then sailed away to win the fraction, which ended with a score of 6-3 after some interesting flashes of play by Bublik, which hinted at something different in the rest of the match.
The second set begins under the banner of balance, at least until 3-2 for Bublik: the sixth game, however, sees the Kazakh take a break lead, with Sinner good at nullifying two break points before surrendering on the third. In fact, it was the game that allowed Bublik to win the set, as at 5-3 the world number 45 did not miss a chance to win the deciding game on his own serve.
The Kazakhstan’s Kazakhstan’s number 45 was the break point.
Somewhat similar was the course of the match in the third and final fraction: Sinner answered blow after blow to Bublik, who, however, in the seventh game took a 4-3 lead by snatching the game on the South Tyrolean’s serve. The current world number 1 then went down 5-3 and shortened to 5-4, but in the 10th game he had to surrender to his opponent of the day, who thus advances to the quarters where he will face Czech Tomas Machac.
