Alexander Bublik and Borna Coric will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they battle for the Open Sud de France title on Sunday. Their only previous encounter came last summer on the grass courts of Halle, where Bublik cruised 6-3, 6-1.
Bublik followed up that first-round victory by making a run to the Halle title, and now he seeks his second winners’ trophy in Montpellier. The 27th-ranked Kazakh, who triumphed at this tournament in 2022, is back in the final following defeats of Denis Shapovalov (from three match points down), Alexander Shevchenko, and Felix Auger-Aliassime. Bublik has come back from a set behind in every one of his matches so far this week.
Coric has undoubtedly been the best player in Montpellier. En route to the title match the world No. 37 did not drop a single set against Pedro Martinez, Flavio Cobolli, and top-seeded Holger Rune. Coric led Rune 6-3, 4-1 on Saturday when the Dane retired because of an arm issue.
Coric’s previous result against Bublik should not be too much of a concern. Bublik was in the midst of his best-ever tournament and has always been at his best on grass. Aside from an out-of-nowhere title in Halle back in 2018, Coric has been terrible on grass (11-16 lifetime record). He is 62-43 all time indoors, including 25-9 dating back to the start of 2019.
Given his current form and on a surface that gives him a better chance than on grass, Coric should match up well with an opponent who plays an extremely high-risk, high-reward game. Look for the veteran Croat to get enough balls back in play to cap off his dominant week with the title.
Pick: Coric in 3
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