Alexander Bublik Upsets Tommy Paul in Five-Set Thriller

"I have no explanation," Bublik said of his service performance. "I was playing today, and I was like, eventually, it's going to happen. He had a couple of set points, and then I was serving for the match, and I was like, 'ok, let's hope not today.' I have the next match against Jannik [Sinner], so probably that will be the next match I drop a couple of serves."

Both men held out for a first-set tiebreak after a tight first set, neither able to break the other. Paul rallied back from 6-3 to 6-5, but a forehand hit wide gave Bublik the set. Bublik brought out some drop shot action in the second set, saving a break point while down 2-1 after bringing Paul to the net with a strategically placed drop shot.

The second set ended with another tiebreak after both players held out on their serve. Paul raced out to an early lead after hitting one of the shots of the tournament: a forehand overhead dropped in the far left corner of the court after running down a Bublik forehand. Paul took the set with a 7-4 win in the tiebreak after multiple long rallies.

While up 2-3 in the third set, Paul took an unexpected medical timeout, leaving the court to be checked out. Worries over his fitness on court after his previous late-night five-setter against Nuno Borges on Thursday night had resurfaced. Still, he appeared healthy after returning to the court shortly after.

Bublik broke Paul on his first break point of the match after 32 games, taking control of the third set at 5-3. Paul didn't go down quietly, forcing Bublik to win on his second set point when he was serving for the match. In true Bublik fashion, the 23rd seed won the set with a forehand winner off a massive smash from Paul.

The fourth set was nearly as tight as the first two, with no chance for a break point until Bublik reached one while Paul served at 4-4. Paul fought off the point, but he looked as if he might have been able to take it while up 6-5 with a handful of set points. The Kazakh didn't let him off easy, however, as he fended them off to head into the third tiebreak of the match.

Bublik was a hair away from taking the match in four sets after going up in the tiebreak 5-4. Two unforced errors turned the tables so that Paul was the one with set point at 6-5, one he converted to win the fourth set after a backhand unforced error hit by Bublik into the net.

Unfortunately, the American wasn't able to ride the high for long. Bublik took the early break for a 1-0 lead at the beginning of the fifth set, an obviously injured Paul slowing down on the opposite side of the net. Paul battled it out, but perhaps not as he should have given that Bublik decisively won the next four games for a 5-0 lead.

The 14th seed still had some fight in him yet, fending off two match points to put himself on the board with one game to his name. It wasn't enough to stop Bublik, who advanced to the fourth round after finishing the fifth set 6-1.

Despite the importance of his win, Bublik took the time to shoutout Paul and Ben Shelton in his on-court interview with Pam Shriver.

"I would like to start with something else," Bublik said when asked about his performance. "We all saw that Ben got injured; it was really a pity. And then I saw today with Tommy. I would like to wish them the best recovery because they're close friends, and it was a pity to see them like this."

Bublik will face World No. 1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner in the round of 16 on Monday. The two have faced each other six times before, with Bublik winning their previous meeting in the fourth round of Halle on grass.

"That's tough," Bublik said of his next match in his on-court interview. "Really tough. In five-set format, I haven't [won] yet. I try to use my chances, get to recovery now, and I hope I'm not going to be playing at 11 o'clock."

The US Open singles tournament runs through September 7.