Alexander Bublik had to do some hard work in the first round on his way to defending his title at the 31st TERRA WORTMANN OPEN. The clearly favored Kazakh, ranked 17th in the ATP world rankings, won against Australian qualifier Max Purcell 7:6(1) and 6:4 after almost one and a half hours. Bublik's advantage: efficiency. The 26-year-old made the most of his chances. Bublik thus remains unbeaten in Halle. He has won all six matches in East Westphalia so far.
However, the first set in particular was very close. Bublik managed a quick break to 2:0, but seemed restless and was unhappy with his serve. He promptly gave up his service. Everything went according to plan until 6:6. Then Bublik was suddenly wide awake. The 2023 champion from Halle suddenly managed everything, including small assists from the edge of the net. Alexander Bublik won the tie-break 7:1 and thus set one.
The second set began like the first. The Kazakh broke the world number 101 early, but Purcell managed the direct re-break. Nothing sensational happened until 4:4, then Bublik struck again. He used his first break point to make it 5:4 and sealed the match with his serve and his first match point. Bublik was not out of the tournament, but he will have to improve considerably if he wants to go far in the tournament again. Incidentally, the last defending champion of the TERRA WORTMANN OPEN to lose in the first round was Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who lost to Karol Kucera in 2003.
Bublik will now play the American Christopher Eubanks (ATP 44), who beat Spain's Pedro Martinez 6-3, 6-4, in the round of 16.
