Kazakhstan's first racket Alexander Bublik, firing 21 aces, won his quarterfinal match at Almaty Open against Russia's Karen Khachanov – 4:6, 7:6 (7:5), 7:6 (7:5). This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

The lack of match practice initially did not benefit our tennis player. The match against Khachanov was Alexander's first in the singles draw of the Almaty tournament. Bublik skipped the first round, and his second-round opponent, Hungary's Fabian Marozsan, fell ill and did not play the 1/8 final match.

Khachanov had already secured two victories in Almaty. He defeated Japanese qualifier Rei Sakamoto (124) 6:2, 6:4 and Czech Tomas Machac (72) 6:2, 4:6, 7:6 (9:7).

The head-to-head record of 1:1 between 29-year-old Bublik and 30-year-old Khachanov promised a tight battle. And so it proved. Bublik started with a series of aces, while his opponent played almost flawlessly from the baseline.

At 2:2, the first warning sign appeared for the Kazakhstani. Trailing 0:40 on his own serve, Alexander prevented a break. This trouble occurred a game later. Khachanov, breaking his opponent's serve, subsequently closed out the set 6:4.

Bublik continued his seventh quarterfinal of 2026 with a victory in the second set. After both players held their six service games, the match went to a tiebreak, where the Kazakhstani edged out the Russian 7:5. The deciding set followed exactly the same scenario. Again 6:6, another tiebreak, and Alexander's victory in the 13th game with the same score.

4:6, 7:6 (7:5), 7:6 (7:5) – the match lasted 2 hours 27 minutes. Aces count – 21:8. Double faults – 3:5. Points won were equal – 105:105.

In the semifinal, Bublik will face another Russian, Daniil Medvedev. The world No. 5 today gave Frenchman Terence Atman no chance in the quarterfinal – 6:4, 6:4. In the other semifinal, Georgian qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili will meet Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The ATP-250 men's tournament Almaty Open is the successor to the competitions held in Astana from 2020 to 2023. In 2022, the tournament received '500' status, but then returned to its original status. It was first held in Almaty in 2024.

In various years, the tournament was won by Serbia's Novak Djokovic, Russia's Khachanov, France's Adrian Mannarino and others.

In 2025, Medvedev became champion, defeating France's Corentin Moutet in the final – 7:5, 4:6, 6:3.

The prize fund of Almaty Open-2026 is $1.07 million.