ATP Tour

Bublik survives in five against Paul, sets Sinner US Open showdown

Alexander Bublik has dominated on serve throughout the US Open and he used his delivery to great effect in the early hours of Sunday morning to reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the first time.

Despite letting slip an advantage in the fourth-set tie-break, the 23rd seed surged past 14th seed Tommy Paul 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1 after 1 a.m. to set a clash in the last 16 against Jannik Sinner, the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings.

On-court reporter Pam Shriver told Bublik his serve "is incredible" and the Kazakhstani had a quick reply.

"Yes, it is," Bublik told the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd. "I have no explanation, but I was playing today and I was like, 'Eventually it's going to happen, right?' He had a couple of set points and then I was serving for the match. I was like, 'Okay, let's hope not today'. I have [my] next match against Jannik, so probably that will be the match I will drop a couple of serves."

Bublik has faced 12 break points in the tournament, but held firm. Sinner will take a 4-2 lead in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series into their showdown, but Bublik has won two of their past three meetings, including a victory in Halle this year.

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"That's tough, really tough. In five-set format I haven't done it yet," Bublik said. "But I'll try to use my chances."

The 28-year-old hit 22 aces against Paul and won 83 per cent of his first-serve points. He also used his drop shot to great effect against the American to keep him off balance throughout.