Ace king Bublik wins 30th TERRA WORTMANN OPEN

The sensational winner of the 30th TERRA WORTMANN OPEN is Alexander Bublik. The Kazakh defeated the favourite Andrey Rublev in the final 6:3, 3:6, 6:3. For Rublev it was the second defeat in the final of Germany's most important tennis tournament. In 2021, he had lost to Ugo Humbert. 

When choosing a profession, Alexander Bublik could have chosen either watchmaker or lumberjack. He has an exceedingly fine hand, as the endless series of his drop shots shows. And he can be brutal, as his hammer-hard serves prove. Because he is also good at reading the game situations, he is one of the most unpredictable players on the tour with a lot of potential. And no one really knows why the 26-year-old Kazakh has not had any great success so far. 

Statistically, nothing spoke in Alexander Bublik's favour: Halle was his first 500 final ever. And he had never won against Rublev in three matches.  And of his seven tour finals, he has only played one successfully. But those who know him are aware that such facts do not bother him much. And so he started the final just as he had finished the semi-final against Alexander Zverev the day before. With outstanding tennis. All right, two double faults and a defended break point in the first game were a bumpy start, but after nine minutes it was already 3:0 in his favour. Andrey Rublev soon looked similarly perplexed as the German crowd favourite Zverev on Saturday: How to go about it against this variable tennis from Bublik?

After just 27 minutes, the display in the OWL Arena showed 6:3 for Bublik. Both players left the court briefly - perhaps also to escape the oppressive heat for a few moments. The favourite made better use of the intermission, because now suddenly Andrey Rublev was pressing. Bulik's drop shots and his powerful serve were no longer as precise. Rublev, on the other hand, now brought his hard-hitting forehand game and his confident service to bear.  He broke for 4:2 and after an hour the set was levelled at 6:3.

But unpredictable is unpredictable: Alexander Bublik immediately got back on track in set three, broke early, made drop shots like pinpricks and served confidently. Even before the match, he was the player with the most aces in the tournament - a total of 79 in the end. Andrey Rublev was left with only Bublik viewing - he could do little.

Only at the very end did the ace king from Kazakhstan wobble once, served three double faults and had to fend off another break point. But after 94 minutes, the winner was Alexander Bublik. He will be ranked 26th in the world rankings on Monday - it is the highest ranking of his career. "I won today against a good friend," Bublik said later and, as after the victory against Zverev, he didn't want to know anything about a special strategy: "I played like I always do." Just unpredictable.