Alexander Bublik seemingly wasn’t happy at all after he realized that his Montpellier title defence would end in the first round as he broke three rackets late in his match against Gregoire Barrere. Bublik. who captured his first ATP title in Montpellier 12 months ago, was beaten in the Montpellier first-round this week.
In the Montpellier first-round, Bublik suffered a 6-4 6-7 (12) 7-6 (3) loss to home favorite Barrere. Down 6-0 in the third-set tie-break to Barrere, Bublik broke three rackets.
Alexander Bublik unhappy to lose his title in Montpellier ð¤·
(ð¥ @TennisTV) pic.twitter.com/kuZiI035aZ — We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) February 8, 2023
After breaking three rackets, Bublik was able to win the next three points but it wasn’t enough as Barrere managed to clinch a three-set win.
How Bublik lost to Barrere
The first break points of the match were seen in the second game, when Bublik saved Barrere’s two break points. In the 10th game of the first set – when Bublik was serving to stay in the first set – Barrere earned the first break of the match to clinch the opener.
As no breaks of serve were seen in the second set, the second set had to be resolved in a tie-break. In the tie-break, Bublik was close to suffering a straight-set defeat but he saved three match points, before converting his fifth set point to send the match into a decider.
After winning a tight second set, Bublik also earned the first break of the third set in the sixth game to open a 4-2 lead. Unfortunately for Bublik, his third-set lead was short-lived as Barrere broke back in the seventh game.
After blowing a third-set break, Bublik had a chance to go again up by a break again in the eighth game but Barrere saved a break point to tie the decider to four games apiece. As no breaks were seen in the rest of the third set, a second consecutive tie-break was seen.
After saving three match points in the second-set tie-break, Bublik also saved three match points in the third-set tie-break. But Barrere realized his seventh set point and managed to escape with a three-set win over Bublik. Last year, Bublik stunned Alexander Zverev in the Montpellier final to win his first ATP title.
