Bublik gamble pays off as Draper, Zverev survive scares

Centre Court Column by Deborah Curtis-Setchell

The grass-court season is in full swing, with top players spread between Halle, Germany and Queens Club, England – and even before Wimbledon starts, we’ve seen a handful of inspired cameos worthy of any major.

Tatjana Maria, a German veteran and mother of two, was crowned ‘Queen of Queens’ in winning this inaugural WTA tournament as a qualifier, in front of a packed crowd, with her husband and coach, Charles Edouard, and daughters, Charlotte and Cecilia (asleep in a pram) courtside.

This was a classic, in that Maria employed old-school tactics reminiscent of GOAT Martina Navratilova, slicing and dicing her way through a formidable line-up – which included both former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and Australian Open winner Madison Keys – before trumping Amanda Anisimova, half her age, 6-3 6-4 to lift the coveted trophy.

She had lost 19 matches on the trot on the eve of her brave campaign.

Meanwhile in Round 2, in Halle, Uzbekistani, Alexander Bublik – who’d already caused a stir at Roland Garros by beating World No 5 Jack Draper – played the match of his life in delivering a dazzling potpourri to interrupt World No 1 Jannik Sinner’s relentless baseline barrage and pull off the unlikeliest victory of the season in felling the Italian 3-6 6-2 7-5.

Bublik becomes the only player on Tour this year to topple the entrenched No 1, other than Sinner’s official nemesis, reigning Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz.

Pre-Roland Garros, Bublik was at such a low over his ebbing career, he hit the Black Jack tables in Los Angeles in an effort to purge his troubled mind.

The gamble seems to have paid off, because in betting terms, he has now reined in some serious high rollers, not least of all World No 3 Alexander Zverev.

Zverev himself narrowly dodged disaster in an event he is expected to win (Halle) in finally shaking off Lorenzo Sonego in a third-set tiebreak 6-3 3-6 7-6(7/4).

Unseeded for the first time, Stefanos Tsitsipas was not as stoic.

The Greek suffered the humiliation of a second defeat at the hand of big-serving American Alex Michelsen, who slayed him in four sets at the Australian Open earlier this year. On this occasion, it took only two, 7-6, 7-5.

Tsitsipas and his serve didn’t look convincing in his first-round match versus Luciano Darderi, and new coach Goran Ivanisevic, a former Wimbledon champion, has an uphill battle, to get the Greek No 1, to up his ante in time for the All England Club.

In another Halle headliner, Brazilian teenage star Joao Fonseca squandered a match point as he tragically slipped, before hitting a slam dunk forehand volley, thus handing victory to No 24 Flavio Cobolli on a knife’s edge, 5-7 7-6 7-6.

Cobolli thereafter defeated Canadian former top-10 player Denis Shapovalov in yet another third-set tiebreak thriller 7-6 4-6 7-6.

Back on English grass, second seed Draper suffered a scare as he too only narrowly squeezed past Australian Alexei Popyrin 3-6 6-2 7-6(5) to join the inimitable Alcaraz in the Queens quarters.

The British men are certainly performing better than their female counterparts at this venue.

British No 2 Jacob Fearnley reached his first Tour quarter-final after ploughing through frothing Frenchman Corentin Moutet 6-3 2-6 6-2 in 30-degree heat in the newly christened Andy Murray Arena.

Former British No 2 Dan Evans recovered his old fighting form to beat No 13 Frances Tiafoe 7-6 7-6(7/4) in their action-packed opener.

If spectator turn-out at Queens is anything to go by, Wimbledon 2025 is in for a turnstile record.