Tennis-Bublik Powers Past Rublev to Win First Grass Title in Halle

Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik clinches his first grass court title at the Halle Open, defeating Andrey Rublev in a hard-fought match with two service breaks. The victory comes just before Wimbledon and adds to Bublik's previous tour title in 2022.

^{Tennis - ATP 500 - Halle Open - OWL Arena, Halle, Germany - June 25, 2023 Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik in action during his final match against Russia's Andrey Rublev REUTERS/Edith Geuppert}

HALLE, Germany (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik battled his way past third seed Andrey Rublev 6-3 3-6 6-3 thanks to two service breaks to win the Halle Open title on Sunday, his first on grass just over a week before the start of Wimbledon.

It was also the 26-year-old's second tour title after his win in Montpellier in 2022.

Bublik, ranked 48th in the world, shot out of the blocks and snatched a break on Rublev's very first service game to move 2-0 up.

With his booming serve proving impenetrable for his opponent Bublik quickly bagged the first set.

Rublev, playing in his second Halle final in three years and looking to add to his Monte-Carlo title this season, got his revenge when he managed to convert his third break point of the match at 3-2.

He held serve to level but Bublik recovered and went a break up thanks to a superb backhand crosscourt winner at the start of the third set.

The Kazakh, who is no stranger to grass with two finals in Newport, did serve a dozen double faults throughout the match but finished it off in style, firing a second serve ace on his first match point to land his second tour title.