Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan made ATP Tour history on Sunday, becoming the first player to win a tournament having lost the first set in each of his matches.
Bublik, the No. 2 seed, rallied yet again in beating Croatia's Borna Coric, the fourth seed, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 in the finals of the Open Sud de France in Montpellier, France.
Bublik won the same event in 2022 at the indoor hard-court ATP 250. He has four tour titles and will rise from No. 27 to a career-high No. 23 in the ATP rankings on Monday.
Improving to 2-0 in his career against current No. 37 Coric, Bublik had more aces (19-5) but also more double faults (6-1). He won 80 percent of first serve points (44 of 55), compared to 58 percent (23 of 55) for Coric.
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