"I was close to calling it quits after Wimbledon": Alexander Bublik's emotional revelation after Halle triumph

Alexander Bublik confessed that he was considering taking a break from his career after Wimbledon if he didn't turn things around following a difficult year. This Sunday, the Kazakh claimed the Halle Open title—for the second time in three years—after a recent resurgence in form.

The 26-year-old tennis player had reached his career-high ranking of World No. 16 in 2024, but the past year saw a series of adverse results that caused a significant drop in his ranking.

After reaching the second round of Wimbledon in 2024, the Kazakh continued the season with only 2 wins and 7 losses. In 2025, he couldn't course-correct in the initial months, with just 2 victories in his first 10 matches. This led to a sharp decline in his ranking, from his No. 17 position at Wimbledon 2024 to No. 82 by March of this year.

Since returning to the clay courts, Bublik began to find his best level, achieving several victories, both in tournament qualifiers and at the Challenger level—winning the title in Turin before reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros two weeks ago. "It’s tough to speak. I had such tough months since last Wimbledon to probably this summer," he stated after defeating Daniil Medvedev in the Halle final. "I was close to calling it quits after Wimbledon, because I was not enjoying it anymore."

"I promised my coach that I would stay there and keep practising, and after Wimbledon we will make a decision about whether I need to take a couple of months off before trying to come back. Now this is happening. I don’t know. Quarters at the French, winner here. I have no words.”

The World No. 45 reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time, defeating two Top-10 players along the way: Alex De Minaur (No. 9) and Jack Draper (No. 6). He fell decisively to Sinner in the quarterfinals, but already showed clear signs of returning to good confidence.

This week, he defeated Sinner—the World No. 1's first loss to a player other than Carlos Alcaraz since August of last year. He then successively overcame Machac, Khachanov, and in the final, Medvedev, with scores of 6-3, 7-6, asserting that it was the toughest match of his career. "From the mental point of view, that’s the toughest match I ever played in my life," he said. "I have never beaten Daniil. He’s a super tough player to play, especially with my gamestyle, and today everything clicked in mentally and physically. That’s one of the wins of my career and I’m really humbled to stay here and enjoy the moment."