Alexander Bublik came back from one set down for the third match in a row to beat Felix Auger Aliassime 4-6 6-4 6-4 in a close match after 2 hours and 39 minutes reaching the final at the final at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier.
Bublik reached the 10th final of his career. He will play his second consecutive final on indoor hard-court after winning the title in Antwerp last October.
Bublik saved a break point to hold serve in the sixth game of the first set. Auger Aliassime earned his first break in the 10th game to clinch the first set 6-4.
Auger Aliassime saved two break points in the second game of the second set. Bublik broke serve in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead and sealed the second set 6-4 on his fourth set point.
Bublik converted his fifth break point in a seven-deuce first game of the third set to take a 2-0 lead. Auger Aliassime won the next three games with a break-back in the fourth game to take a 3-2 lead.
Bublik recovered from squandering a break lead and won four of the last five games from 3-2 down to seal the win after 2 hours and 37 minutes.
The Kazakh player clinch the win on serve on his first match point. The Kazakh player reached the semifinals in Adelaide last January.
Bublik has drawn level to 2-2 in his head-to-head matches against Auger Aliassime.
Bublik aims to become the seventh player to win more than once in the 37-year-history of the Montpellier tournament when he faces Borna Coric in this Sunday’s final.
Bublik saved three match points against Denis Shapovalov in the first round and was two games from defeat to beat Alexander Schevchenko in the quarter final.
“It was a draining match. I am happy to get through. Playing Felix is a tough challenge, especially indoors. I left it all out there. I am happy to get through. I will try to win it again tomorrow”, said Bublik.
Bublik led top seed Holger Rune 6-3 4-1 in their first head-to-head clash when the Danish player was forced to withdraw from the match due to a foreharm injury. Coric has not dropped a set in Montpellier.
Coric won 79% of his first serve points and broke Rune’s serve four times before Rune retired after 59 minutes.
Coric has dropped just 15 games in six sets in just four hours on court.
Bublik beat Coric 6-3 6-1 to win the title in Halle last year. The Kazakh is aiming to extend his winning streak in three consecutive finals after losing six of first seven title matches.
Coric has not won a title since August 2022 when he won the Cincinnati title becoming the lowest-ranked player to ever win a Masters 1000 title.
The Croatian player has reached his ninth tour final. He will be aiming to win his fourth title.
