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Key Points

Alexander Bublik has made history by becoming the first Kazakhstani man to reach a singles Grand Slam quarterfinal at the French Open. His victory against Jack Draper in four sets marks his latest triumph in an impressive run, having previously never advanced past the second round at Roland Garros. Bublik's performance on the red clay is particularly remarkable given his previous successes have all been on other surfaces. He now awaits his next opponent from an upcoming match between Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev.

Key Points: Bublik Stuns Draper to Reach First French Open Quarterfinal

  • Bublik defeated Top 10 Draper in four sets
  • First Kazakhstani man to reach Grand Slam quarterfinal
  • Overcame a two-set deficit against Alex de Minaur
  • Lower-ranked triumph similar to 1999 Medvedev run at Roland Garros
3 min read

French Open: Bublik stuns Draper; reaches first Grand Slam quarterfinal

Alexander Bublik defeats Jack Draper in four sets, making history as the first Kazakhstani man in a Grand Slam quarterfinal.

"Standing here, it's the best moment of my life, period. - Alexander Bublik"

Paris, June 3

Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan continued his mesmerising run in the French Open 2025, making a breakthrough by securing a maiden quarterfinals appearance at the Grand Slam level, securing his place with a four-set upset of Jack Draper here on Monday.

Having never been beyond the second round at the clay-court major since his junior days, Bublik scalped his second Top 10 victim of the week with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory against Draper.

Bublik, who came back from two sets down to defeat Alex de Minaur of Australia in an earlier round, became the first Kazakhstani man to reach a singles Grand Slam quarterfinal in the sport's history.

"Sometimes in life, there's only one chance, and I had a feeling that that was mine, and I couldn't let it slip," an emotional Bublik said in an on-court interview, after a full minute's standing ovation from the Court Suzanne-Lenglen crowd. "Standing here, it's the best moment of my life, period."

At No. 62 in the ATP Rankings, Bublik is the lowest-ranked man to earn two Top 10 wins at Roland Garros since No. 100 Andrei Medvedev beat Pete Sampras and Gustavo Kuerten to reach the 1999 final. The 27-year-old Bublik, who hit a career-high of World No. 17 last May, has moved to the brink of the Top 40 behind his four Paris wins.

Against Draper, who is up to No. 4 this week in the ATP Live Rankings, Bublik won 79 percent of his first-serve points and converted on five of six break points, according to Infosys Stats. The victory was his first in three Lexus ATP Head2Head matchups with the British No. 1.

Bublik had reached the fourth round once before at a major, at Wimbledon in 2023. The biggest surprise is not that he has advanced one round further, but that he has done it on the red clay of Roland Garros.

All of Bublik's four tour-level titles and 11 finals have come on either hard or grass courts. His 25 wins and 41 percent win rate on clay entering Roland Garros are both his lowest marks across all surfaces.

This season, he reached the fourth round at the Madrid ATP Masters 1000 and won the Turin ATP Challenger Tour event on clay.

Bublik will bid to continue his dream Roland Garros run against Jannik Sinner or Andrey Rublev, who will square off in Monday evening's match to complete the quarter-final lineup in Paris.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

R
Rahul K.
What an inspiring performance by Bublik! 🇮🇳 As an Indian tennis fan, I love seeing underdogs succeed. Hope our players can take inspiration from this. The way he fought back after losing first set shows real champion mentality!
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Priya M.
Kazakhstan making history in tennis while we still struggle to produce consistent players beyond singles events 😔 Bublik's journey proves rankings don't matter when you have the right mindset. Hope our AITA takes notes!
A
Arjun S.
His interview gave me goosebumps! "Sometimes in life there's only one chance" - so true for athletes. Wonder if he can go all the way now? Sinner/Rublev will be tough but after beating Draper, anything's possible! #FrenchOpen
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Neha T.
Interesting that he's doing so well on clay despite his poor record on the surface. Shows how much mental game matters in tennis. Also nice to see Central Asian representation in tennis - we need more diversity in the sport! 👏
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Vikram J.
While Bublik's achievement is commendable, I wish Indian media gave even half this coverage to our own players in Challenger events. We celebrate foreign athletes more than our own sometimes. Just an observation.
S
Sanjana R.
That standing ovation moment sounded magical! Tennis needs more stories like this rather than just the Big 3/4 narratives. Also, 79% first serve points won is insane! His serve has been 🔥 this tournament.

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