Jack Draper knocked out of the French Open by Alexander Bublik
2 June 2025, 18:39
Jack Draper crashed out of the French Open in a shock fourth-round defeat by world number 62 Alexander Bublik.
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The British number one and fifth seed seemed to have his head scrambled by the unpredictable slugger from Kazakhstan as he slumped to a 5-7 6-3 6-2 6-4 loss.
It meant an end to Britain’s hopes in the singles at Roland Garros after Cameron Norrie, somewhat less surprisingly, was beaten by Novak Djokovic about an hour earlier.
Instead, 27-year-old Bublik became the first Kazakh man to reach a grand slam quarter-final.
Draper had matched Bublik serve for serve in the first set until he was gifted the break for 6-5 by a double-fault.
The 23-year-old also broke at the start of the second, but from then on things just seemed to unravel.
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Bublik, to his credit, was hitting the ball gloriously at times, his drop-shots repeatedly leaving Draper stranded.
The stress on Draper’s face was there for all to see as Bublik marched into a 2-1 lead, with the Londoner simply unable to halt the momentum.
In a marathon final game Draper saved a match point and had five break points, but was unable to take any of them.
In the build-up to the match Bublik had compared Draper to a UFC fighter, but after two hours and 34 minutes it was the 6ft 5in underdog who landed the knockout blow.
