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Alexander Bublik storms into maiden Grand Slam quarters, stuns Jack Draper in French Open
Bublik will aim to extend his stellar run at the Roland Garros when he takes on either world No. 1 Jannik Sinner or No. 17 seed Andrey Rublev in the last eight.
Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik reached his maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal on Monday after he beat Britain's Jack Draper in the fourth-round clash on Court Suzanne-Lenglen in the 2025 French Open, winning 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Bublik will aim to extend his stellar run at the Roland Garros when he takes on either world No. 1 Jannik Sinner or No. 17 seed Andrey Rublev in the last eight.
Bublik, who became the only Kazakh player to reach a Slam quarterfinal in men's singles, was left in tears after the win as he fell on the ground. He then walked to the net with a huge smile, with the red brick all across his face, and hugged Draper, who offered his congratulations.
Draper, who never got past the first round in Paris until this year, was a heavy favourite after a strong season so far in which he has won the Indian Wells title and reached the Madrid Open final. But Bublik produced an inspired performance with a barrage of drop shots (37), 12 of them winners, and eventually sealed the win in a dramatic final game, in which Draper missed five break points, on his second match point.
"You know, sometimes in life there is only one chance and I had the feeling that today was mine, I was not going to let it slide," an emotional Bublik said on court.
"Standing here is the best moment of my life, period. That's amazing, merci mesdames et messieurs," he told the crowd, who broke into chants of 'Bubu, Bubu!'.
"I'm standing here like I won the thing. I can't cry here, let me be in peace, I'm a professional tennis player, I've got one more match, I've got to get ready."
The world No. 62, who has dropped from a career-high of 17th a year ago, has never made it past the fourth round in any Slam. His best show in Paris was a second-round appearance, which he achieved four times in his career.
Earlier in the evening, Novak Djokovic kept his hopes alive for an unprecedented 25th major as he beat Cam Norrie 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in the fourth round. It was his 100th career win at the French Open, a mark surpassed among men only by Rafael Nadal. He is now 100-16 at the Slam. Next up for Djokovic is a matchup against No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev on Wednesday for a berth in the semifinals.
