Jack Draper stunned by Alexander Bublik in four-set defeat at French Open

With his presence at the French Open hanging desperately in the balance, Jack Draper stepped up to the baseline, down two sets to one, hoping he would begin the new set with a clean slate to initiate his resurgence. Instead, he could only watch on helplessly as his opponent threaded four outlandish winners to break his serve to love.

It was that kind of evening for Draper, the fifth seed in Paris, who was thoroughly outplayed by a stupendous performance from the unseeded Alexander Bublik. The Kazakhstani held his nerve in front of an ebullient Court Suzanne Lenglen crowd to close out an immense 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win and reach a grand slam quarter-final for the first time in his career.

Instead of a tough, attritional battle with Alex de Minaur, the highest‑ranked seed in his section, Draper found himself against the enigmatic 27-year-old, who dramatically toppled De Minaur from two sets down in the second round. Bublik has been as high as No 17 in the rankings – he is now No 62 – and on a good day he is an incredibly dangerous and unpredictable player. This was a miraculous day.

He said: “I have a certain skill set to play tennis, and it worked marvellously today – 100% one of the best days of my life and one of the best matches I have ever played in my life. That was as simple as that.”

From the beginning, Bublik showed just how dangerous and unpredictable he can be as he rolled through his early service games with a mixture of destructive, pinpoint serving, destructive shotmaking off both wings and, most strikingly, a relentless stream of perfectly weighted drop shots.

The first set, however, progressed just how many thought it would. Bublik is as well known for his unstable temperament and wavering focus as he is for his undeniable talent. In the tight moments, Draper’s superior return of serve, movement and point-by-point focus earned him the first set.

View image in fullscreen Jack Draper waves to the crowd after his defeat by Alexander Bublik. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images

The start of the second set was similarly unsurprising. Still reeling from the abrupt end to the first set, he handed over a service game with a series of ill-advised drop shots. Just as it seemed like Draper had the match under control, however, it all fell apart.

Bublik immediately forced himself back into the match with a spectacular exhibition of varied attacking tennis. He served brilliantly, keeping Draper out of his service games, pounding his excellent two-handed backhand and he continued to suffocate the left-hander with sickly sweet drop shots from all parts of the court.

Against an opponent who seemed to be able to do anything he wanted with the ball, Draper just could not keep up. As his first serve crumbled, he lost confidence in his forehand and retreated into his shell.

Bublik has shown throughout his career that he can play quality tennis, but sustaining such an incredible level across the best of five sets against one of the best players in the world is another question altogether. Somehow, he just kept on going. “I don’t play many matches where I feel like it’s almost out of my control what’s going on, and he made that happen today,” Draper said.

skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to The Recap Free weekly newsletter The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend’s action Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion

“That’s what top players do. They make you feel extremely uncomfortable, and they make you feel like you can’t do much. He did that today.”

Bublik finished the match with 37 drop‑shot attempts, hitting 12 clean winners behind them alone. He also struck 68 winners compared to 37 from Draper. “He missed hardly any [drop shots],” Draper said. “They were all incredibly good. It’s tough, because you know that’s coming, but yet he can unload on the forehand as well. You just don’t know what to do.”

Considering the momentum Draper had built and positivity surrounding him in Paris, this will be an incredibly tough defeat for him to digest. He sees himself competing for these titles, not merely reaching the second week. However, after starting this season simply seeking his first breakthrough on red clay, he ended this period having won numerous matches, beaten quality players and established himself as a true threat. This loss will simply form another part of his development.

“I’m hurt, and for sure I’m really disappointed,” the 23-year-old said. “I had an opportunity today, and I missed my opportunity, for sure. I struggle to put things in perspective, but I think I am proud of the effort that I’ve done on the clay. I think I’ve really improved. I think last year I was leaving here, first-round loss, being 40 in the world and very disappointed with my tennis and not sure, you know, where I was going with it. This year I’m leaving No 5 in the world.”

Click here to read article