Halle – Bublik brings down Zverev and will play his first final on an ATP 500 tournament, he will face Andrey Rublev there

Kazakh Alexander Bublik, 48th player in the world, qualified for the final of the ATP 500 tournament in Halle (grass) in Germany on Saturday, dominating the German Alexander Zverev, seeded N.9, in two sets, 6- 3, 7-5. Bublik, 26, will play his first final of the season on Sunday, the first of his career in the ATP 500. To date, his only title on the ATP circuit was won last year in Montpellier… after a victory in final against the same Alexander Zverev.

Zverev’s Black Beast

The German is definitely doing well at the Kazakh, who has won three times in four confrontations between the two players. Saturday, Bublik took less than an hour and a half to get the upper hand on the former world number two, whom he beat on his first ball (14 aces for the Kazakh and 94% of points won).

In the first set, he quickly took the lead by making the break in the 4th game (3-1), and then settled for his serve (6-3). The two players then held their faceoff until 5-5 in the second set, when Zverev collapsed, receiving a shutout on his serve. Intractable, Alexander Bublik then concluded without trembling, 7-5. He will be opposed Sunday to the Russian Andrey Rublev, who beat the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut (6-3, 6-4).