"Can’t believe I did it": Alexander Bublik claims Kitzbuhel title to complete clay-court sweep
The Kazakh celebrated his third trophy of the year—and second in as many weeks.
Alexander Bublik will head to the North American summer hard-court swing on an eight-match win streak after finishing his weekend in the winner’s circle yet again.
Six days after triumphing on clay in Gstaad, Bublik replicated that success to lift the Kitzbuhel trophy. Facing Arthur Cazaux for the second time in a week, the top seed soared to a 6-4, 6-3 victory by saving four of the five break points he faced.
"I can't believe I did it as it was probably one of the toughest weeks in my life because coming from Gstaad, playing here, different conditions and raining,” Bublik said Saturday in an on-court interview.
“I used the few chances I had and I am happy to have won."
Bublik, who reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, is now 3-0 in tour-level finals this season—having picked up his second Halle title over Daniil Medvedev in June. Once outside of the Top 80 in March, The Kazakh is projected to return to the Top 25 in strengthening his bid to be seeded at the US Open.
The 28-year-old is expected to compete next at the Cincinnati Open following his withdrawal from the first of successive ATP Masters 1000 events in Toronto. Main-draw action at the National Bank Open begins Sunday on Tennis Channel.
Cazaux was appearing in his maiden ATP final. His 7-2 stretch after Wimbledon has lifted the Frenchman from No. 114 to No. 75 in the ATP’s live rankings.