ATP Tour

Bublik returns to Kitzbühel final, sets big-serving clash with Halys

Alexander Bublik continued his ‘rinse-and-repeat’ week at the Generali Open on Friday afternoon, when the top seed sealed his return to the championship match in Kitzbühel.

The 2025 champion Bublik downed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-4 to set a final showdown with Quentin Halys in the Austrian Alps. Bublik, who won last year’s title without dropping a set and is also yet to drop a set so far this year, delivered a typically powerful performance to see off fourth seed Etcheverry in one hour and 25 minutes.

“I think I played a great match,” Bublik, whose use of the drop shot was particularly effective, said in his on-court interview. “I think I prepared well and I executed the tactics that we had before the match, so I’m really happy with the outcome and the way that I played.”

A nine-time ATP Tour titlist, Bublik won 82 per cent (32/39) of points behind his first serve in Friday’s semi-final encounter, according to Infosys ATP Stats. The Kazakhstani now leads Etcheverry 2-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, having also defeated the Argentine in straight sets at January’s Australian Open.

The No. 11 player in the PIF ATP Rankings Bublik is now 26-16 for the year, a tally which includes a hard-court ATP 250 title run in Hong Kong in early January. On Saturday, he will bid to become the first player to successfully defend the title on the Kitzbühel clay since Robin Haase in 2012-13.

Standing between Bublik and that achievement will be his fellow 29-year-old Halys, who earlier overcame Yannick Hanfmann 6-4, 7-6(2). Frenchman Halys let slip three match points when serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set, and another five on return in the following game. Yet he retained his composure to seal his win in a tie-break.

With his one-hour, 41-minute win, Halys advanced to his second ATP Tour championship match after also reaching that stage in Gstaad in 2024. Halys’ only previous tour-level meeting with Bublik came in Gstaad just eight days ago, when he downed the Kazakhstani in a deciding-set tie-break.

“Of course it feels great, because it was already a long time [since my last final].” Halys said after defeating Hanfmann. “To go back to the final and to try to win a title of course, I’m so happy. Especially the way I’m playing this week. I’ve beaten amazing players and I’m so happy to be here. I will enjoy my match again tomorrow.”