Comeback king Alexander Bublik rallies again, beats Felix Auger-Aliassime to reach Montpellier final

MONTPELLIER, France (AP) — Alexander Bublik again lost the first set before rallying to beat Borna Coric 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 and win the Open Sud de France on Sunday for his fourth career title.

The second-seeded Kazakh dropped the first set in every match he played at the indoor tournament in Montpellier. The ATP website said he is the first player to win an ATP tour event having lost the first set in each of his matches.

"I was on the verge of losing in my opening round, now here I am standing with the title. Thank you to the crowd for supporting me throughout the week," said Bublik, who also won the tournament in 2022. "Maybe if I continue playing like this, I will have more of my pictures here (in the arena), so I'm really happy."

Bublik blew a 4-1 lead in the first set to give the fourth-seeded Coric a chance to clinch his fourth career title and first indoors.

But Bublik's big serve gave him 19 aces and helped him win 80% of his first-serve points.

Bublik will jump four places to reach a career-high of 23rd when the latest ATP rankings are released on Monday.