Alexander Bublik fought back from a set down for the fourth time in five days to beat Borna Coric 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 in the final in Montpellier on Sunday.
“I was on the verge of losing in my opening round, now here I am standing with the title,” the Kazakh said on court after his victory.
Bublik had dropped the first set in his opener against Denis Shapovalov and then fell behind again to Alexander Shevchenko and Felix Auger-Aliassime. He is the first player to win an ATP event after losing the opening set in every match.
It was a fourth title on the circuit for the 26-year-old, who won in Montpellier in 2022 and should reach a career-high ranking of 23rd on Monday.
Bublik raced into a 4-1 lead in the first set before Coric fought back.
In the second set, Bublik began to lure Coric to the net with drop shots and managed to break, to lead again 4-1.
This time, he held on to force a decider.
Bublik, impressive on serve with a total of 19 aces, broke a visibly annoyed Coric early in the third set.
Bublik then saved break points in the fifth and seventh games before lifting the trophy.
Ostapenko eases to second WTA title
Jelena Ostapenko powered past Ekaterina Alexandrova in straight sets in the Linz final on Sunday to secure her second WTA title of the year.
The top seed won 6-2, 6-3 in just over an hour to claim the eighth tournament victory of her career.
Latvia’s Ostapenko also won the Adelaide International in January in the build-up to the Australian Open.
This is the first year Ostapenko has lifted multiple titles since 2017, when she famously won the French Open.
“I’m just happy with the way I’m playing this year,” said Ostapenko, 12th in the WTA rankings.
“I think I feel like I’m more mature and more confident with my game, so it even motivates me more to work hard and get back to the top 10.”
It was the second time Ostapenko had met Alexandrova in a WTA final, after a defeat by the Russian in South Korea in 2022.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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