A really good week at the 2023 European Open in Antwerp for Alexander Bublik finished with a showdown against Arthur Fils of France in the final.
Bublik played plenty of ATP finals in his career so far, but he rarely actually won. Whenever he does, he posts a picture of himself holding the trophy with the caption hehe and the number that the title represents.
Well, today, Bublik got to number 3, which means a hehe x3 is coming up later today. It was an interesting match for Bublik, who delivers the typical experience when he plays.
We saw spectacular shots, we saw aces, we saw doubles faults, and some crazy sequences. It's been a really strong week for Bublik overall, and he got the desired outcome.
It was far from a foregone conclusion as he faced a rising star in Arthur Fils, who loves to play indoors. Wins over players like Stefanos Tsitsipas certainly proved how strong he can be in such circumstances, so a loss in straight sets might be a bit surprising.
Bublik overwhelmed Fils from the baseline with his explosive and aggressive play. On the serve, Bublik employed his typical two-first-serves policy, which yielded 11 aces but also 11 double faults.
The good thing for him is that he was barely punished for that. Fils had three break points in the match, and he didn't use either, which is the problem. He allowed Bublik three as well, but the Kazakhstani player converted two of them, which proved enough to win the match in two sets.
A close matchup indoors like this is generally decided by one or two balls, which also happened here. A good finish to the week for Bublik, who won his 3rd trophy after the 6-4 6-4 triumph. He will return to the Top 30 thanks to this win in Antwerp.
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