At the Dubai Tennis Championships, the first semifinal will be Alexander Bublik vs Andrey Rublev. Bublik defeated Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 4-1, before getting a walkover. Rublev, on the other side, defeated 6-4, 4-3, as he too got a walkover. A spicy Kazakhstan vs Russia clash awaits in the semi-final.
The Alexander Bublik vs Andrey Rublev match will take place on the outdoor hard courts of the Dubai Tennis Center at the Aviation Club. The match will start after 5:00 pm local time (8 AM ET) on Friday, March 1.
Despite his struggles in form around 5 years ago, Alexander Bublik has won 3 ATP titles in his career. They include the 2022 Open Sud De France, the 2023 Halle Open, where he defeated Andrey Rublev in the final, and the Open Sud De France 2024. In the course of these wins, Bublik defeated renowned players like Alexander Zverev, Jannik Sinner, and Borna Coric among others. He also reached the fourth round of Wimbledon last year, displaying his best Grand Slam performance to date.
Andrey Rublev, on the other hand, has won 15 ATP titles in his career and is renowned for his quarter-final finishes. He finished in the quarter-finals of Grand Slams 10 times in his career. Rublev defeated Emil Ruusuvuori in the Hong Kong Open final, winning the 50th title of his career. He also won his 300th career match against rival Alex de Minaur at the Australian Open 2024 fourth round.
Andrey Rublev is 5th in the ATP rankings, whereas Alexander Bublik is ranked 23rd. The SportsRush predicts Andrey Rublev to win his match against Alexander Bublik.
Alexander Bublik vs Andrey Rublev h2h and more information
The Alexander Bublik vs Andrey Rublev rivalry is not a new one, as they have clashed 5 times before in the past on the ATP Tour. Rublev has a considerable 4-1 lead over Bublik.
In the 2019 Kremlin Cup in Moscow, Rublev clinched a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 win. A week after that, the Russian continued his dominance over the Kazakhstani player, winning at the Erste Bank Open by 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (8-6).
Rublev registered his third consecutive win in their head-to-head, at the 2020 Rotterdam Open, 7-5, 6-3. In their next encounter at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, Bublik defeated Rublev 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Finally at the Wimbledon last year, Rublev won against Bublik 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-7 (5-7), 6-4. He came back from two sets down to win the last three sets in a tie-breaker.
The match will stream live on the Tennis Channel in the US. In the UK, the game will be live on Sky Sports. The temperature in Dubai will be 23 degrees Celsius, with 23 km/h wind speed, and 40% humidity. There is no chance of rainfall.
