World number one Jannik Sinner was knocked out of the Terra Wortmann Open in the Round of 16 in Halle, Germany, on Thursday.
Sinner beat Bublik comfortably at the French Open earlier this month, before he lost an epic final against Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros.
Yet Bublik pulled off the biggest win of his career as he closed out a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory on a slick grass court in Germany.
“We are tennis players and we try to win every match we play, but it is a special one,” said Bublik. “I had never beaten a No. 1 in the world. It is an accomplishment.
“On grass, if you lose your serve, it is maybe tough and I am a guy who doesn’t lose a lot of serves. I just kept serving and putting him in uncomfortable positions and it worked well.
“He is an unbelievable player and I was not thinking that I could beat him, but I had a few chances and executed them well.”
Bublik, who became the only player other than Carlos Alcaraz to beat Sinner since last August, was also asked how he turned the match around after dropping the opening set.
“I don’t know. I kept serving. I tried to get back whatever I can,” world No. 45 Bublik said when asked how he turned things around.
“He’s an unbelievable player. I was not thinking I could beat him.
“I had a few chances and I executed them well and I kept serving, I had for certain a better chance than at Roland Garros.
“It’s a very fast surface. He gave me a chance. I had an amazing forehand to break him in the third set.
“I just kept serving and putting him in uncomfortable positions. It worked well.”
This was only the second time Sinner won the first set of a match and ended up on the losing side, with the French Open final against Alcaraz the only other time he suffered this fate.
This defeat will see 450 ranking points drop off Sinner’s record, with his big rival Alcaraz still on course to add to his rankings total as he has made it through to the quarter-finals of the grass court event at the Queen’s Club.
However, his position as world No. 1 will not be threatened for some time, with a bulk of the points on Sinner’s record compiled during his stunning run of form in the second half of 2024.
Sinner’s title wins at the Cincinnati Masters, the US Open, the Shanghai Masters and the end-of-season ATP Finals gave his 5,500 points and he will need to mount a similar run of form to ensure he is still No 1 in the rankings at the end of the year.
He will have a chance to add to his rankings haul with a strong run at Wimbledon, but he may feel a little undercooked on grass courts after this defeat in Halle.
