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

Alexander Bublik has been down in Montpellier, but so far this week, the No. 2 seed is yet to be out.

The Kazakh rallied for the third time in as many matches at the ATP 250 event in Saturday's semifinals, this time defeating No. 3 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. After winning his first career ATP singles title in Montpellier two years ago, Bublik will aim to become the seventh man to win more than once in the event's 37-year history when he faces Borna Coric in Sunday's final.

Though he was the No. 2 seed, Bublik getting to the final was anything but a guarantee. Already this week, Bublik escaped Denis Shapovalov in the second round, saving three match points in the process, and his now-compatriot Alexander Shevchenko in the quarterfinals, where he was two games from defeat in the third set.

Against Auger-Aliassime, it was Bublik who needed to navigate letting a late lead slip after first working his way back into the match. After breaking serve in a seven-deuce game to start the decider, Bublik lost the next three, but won four of the last five games from 3-2 down to finish off the two-hour, 37-minute win.

"A draining match, and I'm happy to get through," Bublik, who's spent just shy of seven hours on court this week, said. "Playing Felix is a tough challenge, especially indoors. I left it all out there."

No. 4 seed Coric, meanwhile, moved through to his first final in more than two years when top seed Holger Rune retired with the Croatian ahead 6-3, 4-1. While Bublik has battled throughout the week, former world No. 12 Coric has cruised, and has lost just 15 games in six sets played in just over four hours on court.

Bublik beat Coric 6-3, 6-1 en route to winning the title in Halle last summer, and is bidding to extend his winning streak in finals to three after losing six of his first seven. Coric hasn't won a title since he made history as the Cincinnati champion in 2022, the lowest-ranked man to ever win a Masters 1000 event.