Bublik sends Fritz home following Moutet

Alexander Bublik (World No. 16) defeated Taylor Fritz (No. 4) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in the Round of 16 of the ATP 1000 Rolex Paris Masters, paving his way to the quarterfinals.

A light dispute initiated by Corentin Moutet (No. 32) quickly faded after the Kazakhstani won his match against the Frenchman. The only aftershock at the event was that the audience split into two groups: Moutet’s fans, who chanted «Go, Taylor, go!» while Bublik’s fans — along with neutral spectators — did not stop applauding the Kazakhstani’s successful plays.

Up to a certain point, the game was even. The opponents went head-to-head with great serves, especially Fritz. At 5-5, they each had 33 points.

At a crucial moment in the first set, Bublik faced problems which he managed to handle confidently. After fending off four set points on his own serve — two in the 10th game and two in the 12th — he managed to force a tiebreak, where he was slightly behind most of the time — 0-2, 2-4, 4-5 — but caught up later, which came as a complete surprise to Fritz. The Kazakhstani player converted his first set point to win the tiebreak 7-5 and take the set 7-6.

While Fritz, who thought he had everything under control, was dealing with the shock, Bublik almost broke his serve in the opening game of the second set. Yet the American began to crack. Always calm, he obviously started to feel nervous and make mistakes. Gathering courage, Bublik broke Fritz’s serve to love in the sixth game, making it 4-2, and then closed out the match on his fifth match point in the eighth game — 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.

Over 1 hour and 26 minutes, Bublik hit 11 aces, committed one double fault, and converted two of eight break points. Fritz tallied 14 aces and five double faults, and failed to convert any of his four break point opportunities.

Out of 10 matches against top-10 players this season, Bublik has won half. An opportunity for a sixth win comes in the quarterfinals. His upcoming opponent is Australian Alex de Minaur (No. 6), who played in parallel against Russian Karen Khachanov (No. 14) — winning 6-2, 6-2. In head-to-head matches, de Minaur leads 3-1, but the only 2025 encounter, at Roland Garros, went to Bublik.

De Minaur, like Fritz, achieved his main goal in Paris — qualifying for the season finals in Turin. Can Bublik continue his streak against players qualified for Turin?