Alexander Bublik beats Jannik Sinner to end 49-match streak
Alexander Bublik is the first player not named Carlos Alcaraz to beat Jannik Sinner in 49 matches. Bublik, who lost to the world No. 1 in the quarterfinals of the French Open a fortnight ago, ended Sinner's defense of the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, Germany with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Sinner had not lost to someone other than Alcaraz since August 2024, when Russia's Andrey Rublev beat him at the Canada Open. But after dropping the first set in the face of a typically efficient Sinner performance, Bublik produced the level of tennis that makes him one of the most confounding players on the ATP Tour. He can hit drop shots, trick shots, strange slices and vary spins with craft and guile, but unlike most players in that category, he also has a gigantic serve, as well as booming power off both groundstroke wings.
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When he is in the mood, as he was Thursday, few can live with him — especially on grass, when his skidding slices cut through the court and his serve can feel borderline unreturnable. For Sinner, coming off the physical and mental exertion of his five-hour-and-29-minute French Open defeat to Alcaraz, Bublik's surge proved too powerful to stave off.
And in fairness to Sinner, this was a day when all four of the Roland Garros finalists suffered hangovers of varying degrees.
Coco Gauff was also beaten, losing in the second round of the German Open in Berlin to Xang Winyu while Alcaraz had to dig extremely deep to win an epic against Jaume Munar at the same stage of the HSBC Championships at the Queen's Club, London. Aryna Sabalenka, meanwhile, overcame a second-set wobble against Rebeka Masarova to win a very tight set and come through in straight sets.
This is not a coincidence. Winning any slam or losing in the final is a physically and emotionally draining experience, let alone the kind of finals that we saw in Paris 11 days ago.
At Queen's, Alcaraz looked as though he was heading for a second-round exit for the second straight year, before fighting off a 4-2 final set deficit to prevail in three sets after three hours, 26 minutes. It was the longest match at Queen's since 1991, barely a week on from Alcaraz beating Sinner in the longest ever French Open final.
After the match, Alcaraz wrote 'were we on clay?' on the camera in reference to how long it had taken. It was a gruelling, sweaty match played in temperatures of more than 30 degrees celsius (86 degrees fahrenheit) on the UK's hottest day of the year so far, and Alcaraz showed his frustration at various points. He was especially annoyed after getting a time violation warning in the second set for taking longer than the allotted 25 seconds between points and then feeling like he was being hurried at various points thereafter. 'I'm not used to do it,' Alcaraz said of his flashes of temper during the match. 'Honestly, I use to control myself a little bit, my emotions.'
Hangovers, they'll do that to you.
Alcaraz will play a quarterfinal Friday against France's Arthur Rinderknech, but may feel he has enough grass-court miles in the tank after the drawn-out, physical encounter with Munar. Sinner and Gauff by contrast risk being undercooked for Wimbledon, though last year Alcaraz went out at this stage and ended up winning the title at the All England Club a few weeks later anyway.
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And while Sinner may feel disappointed to have finally lost to a player other than Alcaraz, we'll only really know at Wimbledon whether he is suffering from any real letdown after losing to the Spaniard in such heartbreaking circumstances in Paris. Though where Gauff and Sinner differ from Alcaraz last year is that grass is a surface they've never fully proved themselves on.
The same could be said of Sabalenka, even if that's partly down to her having to miss Wimbledon last year because of injury and in 2022 when Russian and Belarusian athletes were banned from the event. Her opponent in the Berlin quarterfinal Friday is Elena Rybakina, who won Wimbledon in Sabalenka's absence three years ago.
The main draw of this year's event gets under way on Monday June 30.
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