After a decade of shattering tennis dreams, the Halle Open curse is no more thanks to none other than Alexander Bublik.
Bublik is quite a character on an ATP Tour notably known for his trick shots and outbursts on the court which include breaking a racquet or three. He's a very polarizing figure in the tennis world as none of his matches are ever boring. You might see him go on epic rants. You might see him break a few racquets, hit some underarm serves, or pretty much anything else.
There are no guarantees when it comes to the Kazakhstani player as his tennis can range from abysmal to spectacular. It was quite spectacular in Halle recently as he ended up with the trophy beating some notable players along the way.
Winning the trophy put him at risk of continuing the notorious Halle curse which sees the non-Federer named champions of the event crash out in the opening round of Wimbledon. It's been going on for 12 years since it started in 2011 with Kohlschreiber and continued until this year shattering the dreams of six players over the years.
Bublik played his first-round match on Day 1 of the event and was able to beat Mackenzie McDonald in four sets. The American is not a bad player on the surface and he actually won the first set which alerted fans that the curse might continue but ultimately it didn't.
By winning that match, Bublik became the first Halle Open champion to advance past the first round of that year's Wimbledon excluding Federer in the past 12 years. The last one before he was able to do so was Lleyton Hewitt who did it in 2010, one year before the curse started.
All the other champions in the past 12 years lost in the opening round of the event. Not Bublik. He showed the curse who's boss. Hehe as he would say.
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