No one’s having fun?

Logically tight match between two excellent servers, I’m not sure Bublik is super inspired by this matchup either, by the way.

Winner of this tournament in 2025, Bublik returns to high-altitude courts that can really motivate him, it’s that kind of surface or nothing for him. I don’t think he’s going to put huge pressure on himself with these points to defend, but he doesn’t like losing, and if Halys starts smashing ace after ace and the match turns into a mess, he’s not going to be having much fun.

The Kazakh has been a bit off for a few weeks now, even the grass season wasn’t very beneficial, he’s not completely falling apart but he’s slipping back into some of his old habits over time. It’s hard to keep a high level and stay serious when your name is Bublik. I wouldn’t be surprised if he blows up at the end of this season.

On the other side we’ve got the Frenchman Halys, who didn’t really convince me in his first-round win against Cina; the match wasn’t high level and he took an MTO without us knowing why. I don’t think it was physical, because he moved well during the next two sets. We know Quentin: he relies on a big-quality serve, he’s gutsy from the baseline and has a good mentality. It’s not impressive, but it can get the better of a bunch of players, including Bublik.

The Kazakh depends on his motivation: if we quickly see him trying anything on second serves and complaining like crazy, then we’ll probably have a shot with Halys. But in terms of pure level of play, there’s no contest, Bublik is clearly the favorite.