Alexander Bublik arrived at the Open 13 Provence chasing his maiden tour-level win of the 2023 season. The Kazakhstani dug deep to get the job done on Monday, when he rallied to a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 first-round victory against Filip Krajinovic in Marseille.
Bublik engineered the turnaround with a late break of Krajinovic’s serve in the second set and two early breaks in the third. Although the 25-year-old was then broken once himself as his lead in the decider was cut to 3-2, Bublik held firm to clinch a two-hour, nine-minute triumph in which he sent down 18 aces.
With the win, Bublik extended his ATP Head2Head series lead against Krajinovic to 2-0. The pair’s previous clash also came on an indoor hard court in southern France, with Bublik a straight-sets winner in the Montpellier semi-finals last year en route to claiming his maiden ATP Tour title.
The World No. 50 will seek to build on Monday’s win in a second-round meeting with eighth seed Marc-Andrea Huesler or Gregoire Barrere. Bublik is competing at the ATP 250 in southern France for the second time, having reached the semi-finals on tournament debut in 2020.
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Following Bublik onto court in Marseille were Frenchmen Benjamin Bonzi and Luca Van Assche. The pair played out two contrasting sets in front of their home fans — the first featured five breaks of serve and the second just one break, in the 12th and final game — but it was Bonzi who prevailed in both.
The 26-year-old’s 7-5, 7-5 victory booked him a second-round clash against fifth seed Maxime Cressy or another Frenchman, wild card Geoffrey Blancaneaux. The World No. 60 Bonzi is now 4-2 in Marseille, having reached the semi-finals there a year ago.
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