World No.1 Sinner shocked in Halle by Bublik, Alcaraz survives Queen's scare
Italy's Jannik Sinner in action against Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik at Halle on June 19. PHOTO: AFP
BERLIN - Defending champion Jannik Sinner lost his second-round match on grass at Halle on June 19 to Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik, the Italian's first tournament since his French Open final defeat.
Meanwhile, world No. 2 Alcaraz survived a huge scare against fellow Spaniard Jaume Munar to move into the Queen's Club quarter-finals in Britain with a 6-4, 6-7 (7/9), 7-5 victory.
World number one Sinner fell 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to the 45th-ranked Bublik for the 23-year-old's first defeat to a player ranked outside the top 20 since the summer of 2023.
A few days before his defeat to Alcaraz in the title match at the French Open, Sinner had easily dispatched Bublik in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, dropping only six games.
On June 19, ten days before Wimbledon, Bublik claimed his second victory in six ties against Sinner.
The Kazakh will play Tomas Machac in the quarter-finals after the Czech beat Hungarian Fabian Marozsan 6-2, 6-3 earlier in the day.
Earlier, world number three Alexander Zverev rallied from a set down to see off Italy's Lorenzo Sonego and advance to the quarter-finals on grass in Halle.
The 28-year-old German won 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) against the 46th-ranked Sonego and next plays another Italian, Flavio Cobolli for a place in the semi-finals.
A finalist in Halle in 2016 and 2017, Zverev recorded his fifth victory in as many meetings with Sonego, a year after beating him at the same stage of the same competition.
Sonego took advantage of his only chance to break in the first set at 4-3. The German struggled throughout to break his opponent's serve.
Zverev dug deep in the second set, leading 5-4, to win the set before dominating the tiebreak in the final set.
Argentina's 63rd ranked Tomas Martin Etcheverry also reached the quarter-finals after a three-hour duel against fourth seed Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (8/6).
The Argentine saved two match points in the tiebreak of the deciding set to set up a meeting with Russia's Karen Khachanov.
Over at Britain's Queen's Club, Alcaraz was forced to dig deep in a bruising second-round battle against world number 59 Munar that lasted three hours and 26 minutes on the hottest day of the year in London.
Gulping down pickle juice in between games to prevent cramp, Alcaraz had to battle back from 4-2 down in the final set before finally advancing.
'It was a really tough battle. He's a great competitor and he showed how difficult it is to beat him,' Alcaraz said.
'I'm proud of the level I showed today. It's my second match on grass this year. There were moments I struggled a lot mentally and physically.'
Alcaraz will play France's Arthur Rinderknech - a 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) winner over Reilly Opelka on June 20 for a place in the semi-finals.
In the other action on June 19, Jacob Fearnley reached his first ATP Tour quarter-final with 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 win over Corentin Moutet.
British world number 60 Fearnley will face Jiri Lehecka in the last eight, after the Czech world number 30 beat Canada's Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 6-2. AFP
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