Alexander Bublik was the clear favorite to defend his title at the 2026 ATP Kitzbuhel, but Quentin Halys surprised him with a great performance, snatching the throne with a 6-4 7-6(6) scoreline after 1 hour and 33 minutes of play where the French player was superior throughout, just like he did a week ago in Gstaad.
Bublik had been dominating his opponents in the tournament, not dropping a set and defeating strong contenders like Tomás Martín Etcheverry. In fact, he had only lost his serve once the entire week, but Halys was also on par. The Frenchman had not dropped a set either, had eliminated players like Valentin Vacherot or Mariano Navone, and had played one more round than Bublik. Therefore, it was a final that fairly reflected the performances seen throughout the week, putting the two best players of the tournament against each other.
Halys only loses three points on serve in the first set and wins the tournament
The match played out with serving as the main weapon, especially for Quentin, who barely lost three points on serve in the first set. Quite an achievement on clay courts. Bublik held on as best as he could given the circumstances, and eventually conceded the break at 5-4 to start playing catch-up. The second set was even tighter, so much so that they had to go to a tie break, where Halys saved a set point and pulled off the upset.
After winning in Kitzbuhel and Gstaad in 2025, Bublik has now seen Halys become his nemesis in both tournaments, also leading to the first ATP title for the French player. While Quentin will rise to the top 50 in the ATP rankings, this defeat does not affect the Kazakh player significantly, who remains in the 11th spot in the rankings. However, he now has less than 100 points ahead of Jiri Lehecka, making the upcoming tournaments crucial.
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