It has been a challenging few months for Alexander Bublik.
The Kazakhstani star has struggled to locate his best form on the clay courts, suffering opening-round exits in Munich, Madrid, and Paris.
Bublik began his grass court campaign last week, reaching the semi-finals of the Stuttgart Open.
The 28-year-old has now travelled to Halle, where he is seeking to defend the title he won 12 months ago.
If Bublik were to accomplish this feat, he would emulate the achievement of 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer.
Alexander Bublik could become the first player to win back-to-back Halle Open titles since Roger Federer
Roger Federer remains the last ATP player to defend his title in Halle.
Federer, a 10-time champion at the German event, won three consecutive titles between 2013 and 2015.
Since 2015, there have been seven different champions in Halle: Federer, Bublik, Jannik Sinner, Florian Mayer, Borna Coric, Ugo Humbert and Hubert Hurkacz.
Bublik, who is aiming to win his third title in Halle, will begin his title defence against qualifier Mattia Bellucci.
If the Kazakhstani advances past the Italian, he will face either Alexei Popyrin or Raphael Collignon in the second round.
From there, Bublik is projected to play Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals and Taylor Fritz in the last four.
Bublik is projected to play Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Halle Open final, should the Kazakhstani player advance that far.
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Alexander Bublik’s 2025 Halle Open campaign
Bublik’s began his 2025 Halle Open campaign by defeating Alexandre Muller 6-4, 6-4.
The Kazakhstani – unseeded at the event – then stunned top seed Jannik Sinner, beating the Italian 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Centre Court.
A straight sets victory over Tomas Machac followed, before Bublik came through a tough three-set contest against Karen Khachanov.
Bublik completed his magical run in Germany with a 6-3, 7-6 victory over third seed Daniil Medvedev.
“It’s tough to speak. I had such tough months since last Wimbledon to probably this summer,” Bublik said after triumphing in the final, as reported by the ATP.
“I promised my coach that I would stay there and keep practising, and after Wimbledon we will make a decision about whether I need to take a couple of months off before trying to come back. Now this is happening. I don’t know.
“Quarters at the French [Open], winner here. I have no words.”
Bublik went on to win four ATP titles during 2025 – helping him to make his top 10 debut at the start of 2026.
