Halle Open: In-form Bublik dispatches Machac to move into last four

Alexander Bublik won against No 7 seed Tomas Machac 7-6 (2), 6-3 to move into the semi-finals of the Halle Open at the Owl Arena/Gerry-Weber-Stadion.

Building on his excellent run to the second week of Roland-Garros, the Kazakh has now reached the quarter-finals at consecutive tournaments for the first time February 2024 where he made the last eight at both Doha and Dubai.

Bublik, ranked No 45, will face the winner of the match between Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Russian Karen Khachanov, the No 8 seed, next.

Earlier in the tournament, the Kazakh beat Frenchman Alexandre Muller (6-4, 6-4) and edged out Italian Jannik Sinner, the top seed (3-6, 6-3, 6-4).

Machac, ranked No 23, defeated Dutch lucky loser Jesper De Jong (7-5, 3-6, 6-3) and Hungarian Fabian Marozsan (6-2, 6-3) in the previous rounds of the Halle tournament.

Halle ATP 500, other last-eight results (Owl Arena/Gerry-Weber-Stadion, grass, EUR 2.522.220, most recent results first):

• Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs. Karen Khachanov

• Alexander Zverev (2) beat Flavio Cobolli: 6-4, 7-6 (6)
• Daniil Medvedev (3) beat Alex Michelsen: 6-4, 6-3