TennisNH

Bublik Upsets Berrettini; Chardy Saves 2 M.P. In Antalya

11-Jan-2021 11:56:00 | ATP World Tour

Alexander Bublik recorded one of the biggest victories of his career on Monday to reach the Antalya Open semi-finals. The eighth-seeded Kazakhstani held his nerve to beat top seed and World No. 10 Matteo Berrettini 7-6(6), 6-4 in one hour and 31 minutes.

Bublik, who recovered from 3-5 down in the first set and a 1/3 deficit in the tie-break, struck 12 aces and saved five of six break points. Italian Berrettini was broken in the fifth game of the second set.

“Getting to a semi-final in the first week of the season, and beating a couple of top players — Matteo is a Top 10 player. It’s a great start,” said Bublik, who will next play Jeremy Chardy of France.

Chardy saved two match points in the deciding set tie-break to beat fifth-seeded German Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(8) in two hours and 36 minutes.

Chardy, who had led 4-1 in the deciding set, was forced to save match points at 5/6 and 7/8 in the tie-break. He is now tied 3-3 with Struff in their ATP Head2Head series.

“It was a difficult match and I was a little bit tired too from yesterday,” said Chardy, who beat Fabio Fognini in three tie-break sets on Sunday. “He (Jan-Lennard) had two match points at the end, so it was difficult. But I am happy to be in the semi-finals.”

Chardy will contest his first ATP Tour semi-final on Tuesday since January 2019 at Brisbane (l. to Nishikori).