Following a dream week in Halle, former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev and world No. 45 Alexander Bublik will face off on Sunday to battle for the crown at the Terra Wortmann Open final.
Two of a kind on tour, on Saturday, both reached their first final in over a year. Medvedev is playing close to his best tennis.
Meanwhile, the Kazakh player carries momentum from the Parisian red clay, having achieved his first quarterfinal at Grand Slam level at Roland-Garros, to the grass surface.
Saturday’s Semifinals
The Moscow native rallied to overcome world No. 3 Alexander Zverev, fending off three match points on his way to seal a 7-6(3), 6-7(1), 6-4 win, barely under the three-hour mark on OWL Arena, booking the first spot in the championship match.
The 2022 runner-up assessed his performance, outlining: “I am happy with my level. I could have done much better during the break in the second, but it’s normal. The same happened in the third set when I had the break, he started playing better and returning better.
“I am happy that in the third, I managed to stay more composed and managed to save those break points.”
En route to the last four on German soil, the 29-year-old did not drop a set, building a consistent campaign in his bid to capture his first title since 2023, his 21st on tour.
Addressing the match that would decide his final opponent, he stressed: “I’m super tired and hope that the second game also lasts a long time so that my opponent is also tired in the final. I had a bit of trouble closing out the match, but no matter how, no matter what, it worked out.”
The other semifinal saw Bublik coming back from a set down to beat world No. 22 Karen Khachanov 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in a high-level two-hour encounter.
The 27-year-old skill set has been on full display throughout the venue.
Despite making a slow start, losing the opening set, the player from Kazakhstan found his way back into the match, flipping the script in a second-set tiebreak he took to force a decider.
Taking risks while continuing to add pressure over Khachanov’s serve paid dividends, converting the break to inch ahead 4-3.
Furthermore, his top-class shotmaking made the difference against a rock-solid opponent who posed a fierce late challenge.
Hitting drop shots with finesse while generating power off both groundstroke wings, he went the distance to save a break point in the 10th game, surging into the final off the back of a hard-fought triumph.
Moreover, he hit 48 winners (18 aces) against 35 unforced errors, winning 83 percent of the points on his first serve.
Medvedev leads the four-time ATP titlist 6-0, but they have never faced one another before on grass.