Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik (11) continues his campaign to defend last year's title won at the ATP-250 tournament in Kitzbühel. In the quarterfinals, our tennis player defeated Alex Molčan (81) 6:3, 6:2, thereby taking revenge on the Slovak for the crushing spring fiasco in Munich. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
On April 14 at the BMW Open-2026, Bublik sensationally lost in his first match to the Slovak qualifier 4:6, 2:6. Molčan, then ranked 166th, has since significantly strengthened his position in the world rankings. But Alexander also seems to be on his way to his best form.
By taking the opponent's serve to love in the sixth game of the first set, the Kazakhstani clearly demonstrated the new balance of power. Bublik needed only 26 minutes for the first set (6:3), and in the very first game of the second set, the Kazakhstani, having caught the momentum, made a break.
Molčan did not remain in debt this time, repaying with the same coin in the fourth game – 2:2. However, the Kazakhstani was seriously determined to take revenge. After making another break and confirming it, the defending champion of Kitzbühel took a 4:2 lead. And immediately took the serve of his almost namesake again, making one wonder how he managed to blunder so badly in Munich.
The final score of the match, which lasted 1 hour 6 minutes, was 6:3, 6:2. The ace count was 13:1, total points won – 64:46.
Bublik definitely needs to defend the points from last year's victory in Kitzbühel. Having failed in Gstaad, Alexander risks dropping two or three positions in the rankings if he fails in Austria.
In the semifinals, the Kazakhstani will play against Argentine Tomás Martín Etcheverry (31). The South American, seeded fourth in Kitzbühel, successively defeated Austrian qualifier Yuri Rodionov (145) 6:2, 7:6 (7:4) and Peruvian Ignacio Buse (35) 6:2, 7:5. The head-to-head record between the semifinalists is 2:0 in favor of Bublik.
Our other tennis player Alexander Shevchenko (84) lost at the start of the tournament to German Jan-Lennard Struff (41) 6:3, 6:7 (5:7), 4:6.
The Austrian Open tennis tournament has been known under the sponsorship name Generali Open since 2015. One of the oldest tennis tournaments has been held in various statuses since 1894. Only among men and only on clay courts. Before its current location, it was played in Prague (during the Austro-Hungarian Empire), Salzburg, Pörtschach am Wörthersee, and Vienna.
The prize fund of the ATP-250 clay tournament is €612.5 thousand. Over the years, it has been won by American Pete Sampras, Croatian Goran Ivanišević, Argentine Guillermo Vilas, Austrian Thomas Muster, and other stars.