Alexander Bublik progressed to the final of the Generali Open in Austria after beating Botic van de Zandschulp in(straight sets in Friday’s semi-final: 6-3, 6-4.
Bublik, the tournament’s top seed, hadn’t dropped a set on his way to the semi-finals, beating Thiago Agustin Tirante and Kazakh compatriot Alexander Shevchenko in the earlier two rounds. Meanwhile, Botic van de Zandschulp reached his first ATP semi-finals in over two years by beating Nicolas Jarry, Filip Misolic, and Thiago Seyboth Wild.
A challenging match for Van de Zandschulp saw the Dutchman prioritise defence early on, withholding Bublik from breaking him twice in his first service match before even more rainfall interrupted the tennis in Kitzbuhel again.
After a lengthy break, Bublik shot out the gates and kept pressuring Van de Zandschulp. Five break points weren’t enough, but Bublik struck gold on the sixth and comfortably saw out the first set, which the Kazakh dominated with his service game: Bublik won 14 of 15 first service points and conceded just four points in service games.
Bublik, ranked 30th in the ATP rankings, grew increasingly frustrated in the opening games of the second set. A quick break from Van de Zandschulp, who found more rhythm in the return game, saw Bublik go down 4-1 as all the misfortune seemed to go against the Kazakh in the moment.
But Bublik staged a magnificent comeback from 4-1 down, fending off a break point in the sixth game as he started an imperious run of five straight game wins. He learned from his first-set shortcomings and took advantage of every first break point he forced.
Bublik won the match 6-3, 6-4 on the back of a superb comeback, with which he set up a final matchup against Arthur Cazaux, the French number 100 of the ATP rankings. With a win, Bublik will claim his second-straight ATP title after laying claim to the Gstaad title last week.
Key match statsFlashscore