PARIS (AP) — Alexander Bublik became the first man from Kazakhstan to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam tournament, eliminating No. 5 Jack Draper 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 on Monday at the French Open.
The 27-year-old Bublik dropped to the court, smudging himself with the red clay, when he finished off the biggest win of his career after about 2 1/2 hours.
“Sometimes in life, there is only one chance, and I had a feeling that that was mine and I couldn’t let it slip,” he told the crowd afterward. “Standing here is the best moment of my life. Period.”
Moments later, he joked: “I’m standing here like I won the thing.”
Bublik managed to produce a total of 68 winners, 31 more than the left-handed Draper.
At No. 62, Bublik is the lowest-ranked man to earn a pair of victories at Roland-Garros against opponents ranked in the top 10 since No. 100 Andrei Medvedev in 1999. Bublik came back from a two-set deficit to defeat No. 9 Alex de Minaur in the second round last week.
“I have a certain skill set to play tennis," Bublik said, “and it worked marvelously today — 100% one of the best days of my life and one of the best matches I have ever played in my life.”
Draper called himself “incredibly disappointed with the result.”
After reaching his first major semifinal at last year's U.S. Open, Draper has been having the best season of his career, winning his first Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells, California, in March and breaking into the top 10 of the rankings.
“Didn’t play a bad match. I thought he played incredibly well,” Draper said about Bublik. “He didn’t allow me to play my tennis, I don’t think.”
___
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
The Associated Press
