Sinner swamped by Bublik in Halle

Jannik Sinner’s title defence on the ATP Halle grass stalled onThursday as the world No. 1 was ambushed 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 by tennis joker Alexander Bublik.

The second round shock ended the brief respite of the Italian, who won his opening match in Germany this week after losing a record-setting Roland Garros final to Carlo Alcaraz.

The win was revenge for the Kazakh who lost to Sinner last month in the French Open quarters. No. 45 Bublik aimed down 36 winners, including 15 aces in the two-hour upset win.

The loss was the first for Sinner after 66 wins against players outside of the top 20 and ended his run of reaching the final in every event he plays dating to last August in Montreal.

Bublik, with three career titles, stepped closer to a possible repeat of his 2023 Halle trophy as he reached the last eight.

He will bid for his second semi-final here against Tomas Machac after the Czech seeded seventh defeated Fabian Marozsan 6-2, 6-3.

German Alexander Zverev, the second seed, beat Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) to clock his 20th win at the event where he has lost two finals.