Rublev Sets Bublik Final In Halle

Former finalist Andrey Rublev blasted past Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the Terra Wortmann Open title match once again.

The third seed, who fell against Ugo Humbert in the championship match in Halle in 2021, was locked in from ball one, using his flat groundstrokes to dictate. He demonstrated great footwork to attack on his forehand, striking 29 winners to overpower the Spaniard.

With his one-hour, 42-minute win, Rublev set a final meeting against Alexander Bublik on Sunday, when he will chase his second tour-level title of the season (Monte-Carlo).

If Rublev lifts his 14th tour-level trophy, he will have captured an ATP 500 title on grass, clay and hard courts.

Bublik moved to within one win of capturing his first grass-court tour-level title when he defeated home favourite Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-5.

The 25-year-old produced a strong serving performance at the ATP 500 event, firing 14 aces and winning 94 per cent (32/34) of points behind his first delivery to advance against the German after 88 minutes.

“The job is not finished, there is one last match,” Bublik said. “I am happy but I try to stay focused. I tried to play my game and i am really happy with the win today. Playing Sascha is really tough and I was a bit lucky in the key moments. When you play against a top player like Sascha, you need all the weapons to work.”

With his win, Bublik improved to 3-1 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Zverev. Bublik lifted his only tour-level trophy in Montpellier in 2022, but will have the chance to add to his trophy haul when he meets Rublev.

Bublik is up 15 spots to No. 33 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings following his run to the final in Halle, where he has also defeated Jannik Sinner and Jan-Lennard Struff. Bublik has often found his best level on grass, reaching title matches on the surface in Newport in 2019 and 2022.