Down goes Sinner: Bublik stuns world No. 1, makes Halle quarters

HALLE WESTFALEN, Germany (AFP) — Defending champion Jannik Sinner lost his second-round match on grass in the Halle Open on Thursday to Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik, the Italian’s first tournament since his French Open final defeat.

The world No. 1 fell 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to the 45th-ranked Bublik for the 23-year-old’s first defeat to a player ranked outside the top 20 since the summer of 2023.

A few days before his defeat to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in the title match at the French Open, Sinner had easily dispatched Bublik in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, dropping only six games.

On Thursday, 10 days before Wimbledon, Bublik claimed his second victory in six ties against Sinner.

“We are tennis players and we try to win every match we play, but it is a special one,” Bublik said.

“I had never beaten a No. 1 in the world. It is an accomplishment.”

Sinner, who had beaten Yannick Hanfmann in straight sets in the first round, cruised through the first set against Bublik without facing a break point.

Sinner had three break points at the start of the second set, but Bublik held and then went on the attack, hitting 20 winners in the set and gaining the break he needed in the sixth game.

The 28-year-old broke Sinner’s serve in the third with a flashing forehand.

“I had an amazing forehand to break in the third set, and then I kept serving,” Bublik said.

“On grass, if you lose your serve, it is maybe tough, and I am a guy who doesn’t lose a lot of serves. I just kept serving and putting him in uncomfortable positions and it worked well.”

“He is an unbelievable player and I was not thinking that I could beat him,” Bublik said.