Preview: Halle Open Final: Daniil Medvedev seeks redemption against inspired Alexander Bublik

The ATP 500 Halle Open will host its men's final this Sunday, seeking a new champion to succeed World No. 1 Jannik Sinner. The 2022 finalist Daniil Medvedev returns to the final after a notable victory over Alexander Zverev and will be looking for his revenge in pursuit of the Halle title.

He'll face 2023 champion Alexander Bublik, who comes in with a surge of inspiration after delivering a major upset to defending champion Sinner in the second round. The Kazakh is in top form and already knows what it's like to lift a title on German soil.

The Russian has lost ground among the front-runners, but this week at the Halle Open has been revitalizing. He advanced to the semifinals without losing a set and reunited with an old acquaintance: Alexander Zverev, whom he defeated in a true battle over three sets, 7-6(3), 6-7(1), 6-4, extending their head-to-head to 13-7.

Medvedev has accumulated 20 career titles and has lost in 18 finals. He previously secured a single grass-court title at the Mallorca Open 2021, defeating American Sam Querrey in the final. The former World No. 1 has already guaranteed his return to the Top 10 as World No. 9, and if he wins the title, he'll secure a spot among the top 8 seeds at Wimbledon – which would allow him to avoid any higher-ranked opponent until the quarterfinals. This means names like Alcaraz, Sinner, or Djokovic could only appear in the later rounds.

Not only will this be important for a good position at Wimbledon, but Medvedev has long been in need of titles and confidence if he wants to be a true threat to the Alcaraz-Sinner dominance on Tour. It's been 15 months since Medvedev played his last final at Indian Wells 2024. His last title was in May 2023 at the Rome Open, and since then, he has lost in 5 consecutive finals.

The Kazakh had been a consistent Top-30 player for the previous three seasons, but his last year hasn't been very regular, as he even dropped out of the Top 80 two months ago. However, he has shown signs of recovering his form, surprising at the French Open by reaching the quarterfinals on his least favorite surface, defeating Jack Draper along the way, before falling to No. 1 Sinner.

This time, Bublik is on a much more comfortable surface and has maintained his inspired form. He debuted with a straightforward victory over Alexandre Müller and then surprised three-time Grand Slam champion Jannik Sinner, who hadn't lost to a player other than Alcaraz since August of last year. Subsequent victories over Tomas Machac and Karen Khachanov showed that Bublik is back to his best tennis, with 13 wins in his last 15 matches.