All good things must come to an end! Even the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open. Sunday saw Alexander Bublik writing a page of history for Kazakhstan and Lorenzo Musetti losing a seventh final in a row.
- Bublik gets through the Top 10 door in style
- Musetti is not worried about that elbow and wants to keep his head up
- Sonego shows support for his friend Musetti after they win the doubles title
Alexander Bublik played a perfect week to leave Hong Kong with not only the title but also a spot in the Top 10. The first male player from Kazakhstan to achieve the feat. The top seed did the job until the very last point, displaying powerful and daring tennis in the final against Lorenzo Musetti (7-6(2), 6-3). There were some incredible points during the final where Bublik went for all his shots and put constant pressure on Musetti, who started to clearly struggle physically in the second set. The new World No.10 was also very clutch at some turning points of the first set, saving at 4-4 and 5-5.
Bublik seemed to have the crowd in his pocket all week, and so he gave back by doing the round of the stadium after the match point, signing for everybody on sight. It might have been his first time playing the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open, but he felt right at home from the get-go. “I really enjoy playing in Asia in general,” he said. “I have made the final of Chengdu, I have won Hangzhou, I have great memories throughout my life in Asia. And being here was feeling like I’m in a practice facility: I’m very relaxed, very, like enjoying a home-ish atmosphere, you know. You can walk to the site; it’s not like when you arrive with a special car, and there’s a lot of security. Here it feels safe, more home-ish, which I really liked. This probably got me to a point where I have no pressure. I really enjoyed the city, and I’m definitely going to come back.”
At 28, Bublik is clearly enjoying the best tennis of his life, winning four titles last year, being now 34-9 since Roland-Garros, and clinching his 9th ATP title on Sunday. Beating World No.7 (who will be World No. 5 on Monday) Musetti in a final right before the Australian Open is also a statement made to the rest of the field for the first Grand Slam of the year. He didn’t hide his emotions after winning that title, as it finally felt real that he was a Top 10 player. Something he used to joke about.
Lorenzo Musetti is a Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open champion. In doubles. Qualified for both the singles and the doubles finals, the Italian couldn’t go through Bublik, but he made a lot of effort with Lorenzo Sonego to get at least one title on Sunday as they got the last word on Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov (6-4, 2-6, 10-1). So he might be on a 0-7 streak in singles finals since his second ATP title in 2022, but he has snapped the doubles one by winning a title with Sonego at his third trial.
Musetti will still head to the Australian Open with a lot of confidence gained in Hong Kong, where he played some stunning tennis and has surely delivered with Rublev in the semi-finals, the match of the week.
Photos: Hong Kong, China Tennis Association
