When Alexander Bublik is motivated, he is capable of producing scary tennis.
And that is exactly what the 19th-ranked Kazakh has been doing on pretty much a consistent basis dating all the way back to the French Open (aside from a hiccup in round one at Wimbledon and a blowout loss to Jannik Sinner in round four of the U.S. Open). Bublik has captured three titles on two different surfaces during this stretch.
It is full stream ahead for the 28-year-old at the Hangzhou Open, where he has advanced with victories over Aleksandar Vukic and Dalibor Svrcina. Bublik erased Svrcina 6-1, 6-1 in a mere 53 minutes on Sunday night.
Up next for the No. 3 seed on Monday is a semifinal showdown against Wu for their first-ever meeting. Finally armed with a clean bill of health, the 25-year-old from China is in resurgent form. Wu had won only two ATP-level matches prior to this week, but he has defeated Adrian Mannarino, Sebastian Korda, and Daniil Medvedev so far in front of the home crowd.
Wu needed three hours and 11 minutes to get past Medvedev on Sunday night. The world No. 196 came back from a set and a break down, plus he took a medical timeout for a shoulder issue midway through the match. Needless to say, it was an extremely improbably win.
Upsetting Bublik would be even more surprising given the circumstances.
Pick: Bublik in 2
WWW?
Anything is possible at this point, but given the difference in court time, can only see one winner . Underarm serve not even needed.
Again, ignorant bookmakers and bettors dismiss Wu. Even a defeat of Medvedev is not enough for people to take Wu seriously! When Wu ‘shocks’ Bublik, maybe all of you will wake up.
oops!
Bublik in 2