Quentin Halys stops title defender Bublik and wins his first ATP title in Kitzbühel

Halys dominates with his serve

Bublik for his part had apparently underestimated the unseeded Frenchman from the start. In the first set, the world number 83 found it difficult to get into the match and finally committed a careless error on a drop shot at 6:7 in the tiebreak of the second set. Various tricks with which Bublik tried to turn the match in the second set were of no help either. The 29-year-old Kazakh had allowed only a single break chance to the Argentine Tomas Etcheverry in the semifinal the day before, but in the final against Halys he found no recipe against the powerful serve of the Frenchman.

With the tournament victory, Halys catapulted himself significantly up the rankings and is now ranked 51st in the world. He had previously reached only one other ATP final, two years ago in Gstaad. Now he crowned his form with his first title and announced that he wanted to come back to Kitzbühel next year. "The first ATP title will stay in my heart forever. The atmosphere here is so great, we will definitely see each other again next year," he promised.

Bublik fails because of himself

The tournament, which had a total prize purse of 612,620 euros, had been won by Bublik the previous year against the Frenchman Arthur Cazaux. This year, the Kazakh entered the final as the top favorite but failed against an outstanding Halys. The tiebreak of the second set also brought the preliminary decision: although Bublik initially led 2:0 in it, he later failed to repel a set point at 6:5, before Halys scored the decisive point to make it 8:6.

In addition to the 17 aces throughout the match, Halys hit numerous service winners. He dominated the baseline and forced Bublik into defensive positions. In the end, the score stood at a clear two-set defeat for the title defender, who despite his experience on clay found no way to turn the match around.

Doubles: Miedler climbs into the Top 20

Something surprising had also happened in the doubles competition of the tournament. The Austrian Alexander Miedler, who had won the trophy in the Gamsstadt in 2021 and 2023 with Alexander Erler, had most recently triumphed in Gstaad. With his new partner Marc Polmans, an Australian, he defeated the Indian-Swedish pair Sriram Balaji/Andre Göransson 6:4, 6:7 (4), 10:7 and thereby moved into the Top 20 of the doubles rankings for the first time in his career. Miedler and Polmans share a check for 32,410 euros.

The doubles competition had already taken place the day before. In the semifinal round of the singles, Bublik had marched through against Etcheverry in two sets, as had Halys on his side. Halys had defeated the German Yannick Hanfmann 6:4, 7:6 (7/2) in the semifinal. Both players had been unseeded in Tyrol, which makes Halys's run to the final all the more remarkable.

Bublik had won the tournament in 2025 against Cazaux and went into the final as the clear favorite. He is known for his unconventional shots, but in the final he was unable to bring out his best qualities. With the result, he not only loses the title defense but also valuable world ranking points that would have been important for the rest of his season planning.

World rankings: Jump from 95 to 51

Halys, on the other hand, has set a milestone in his career with the title. From world number 95 he jumped to number 51, which will earn him significantly better seeding positions at the upcoming tournaments. The Frenchman had previously reached only one ATP final, two years ago in Gstaad, and now leaves the Gamsstadt as the winner.

The match in detail: in the first set, the favored duo in the doubles managed the break to 3:1, while in the singles Halys broke Bublik's serve to win it 6:4. The decision in the final came after the break to 4:2 in the first set, after which Halys left his opponent no chance. In the second set, it went into the tiebreak without the loss of serve, in which Bublik initially led 2:0 and later failed to convert a set point at 6:5.

The atmosphere in Kitzbühel, which Halys explicitly praised in his winner's speech, is considered one of the most atmospheric on the tennis calendar. The tournament in the heart of Tyrol is Austria's biggest clay-court event and attracts top players from all over the world every year. This year too, the atmosphere in the stands was excellent, as Halys emphasized after the match.

Match in detail

With the final on Saturday at 1:00 pm, the tournament schedule was fulfilled. Bublik will try to come back to Kitzbühel next year, while Halys, as the newly crowned champion, goes into his next tasks with confidence. His first ATP title, he emphasized, would stay in his heart forever.

The weekend in Kitzbühel once again underlines how unpredictable the sport of tennis is. An unseeded player defeats the top favorite, claims the first title of his career and jumps over 40 places up the rankings. For Halys, the triumph in the Gamsstadt is the biggest success of his career so far — and for Bublik a painful, but probably also instructive defeat.