Sinner into semi-finals with ruthless Bublik win

French Open 2025

Dates: 25 May-8 June Venue: Roland Garros

Top seed Jannik Sinner cruised into the French Open semi-finals with a ruthless straight-set victory over Alexander Bublik, bringing the Kazakh’s remarkable run in Paris to an end.

The Italian was in imperious form and is still yet to drop a set at Roland Garros as he won 6-1 7-5 6-0.

Sinner is hunting a first major title on the Paris clay having previously only gone as far as the last four, losing a five-set thriller to Carlos Alcaraz last year.

“We have faced each other a few times so I know him quite well, but with him [Bublik] you never know what’s happening,” said Sinner.

“He deserves to be in the quarter-finals, he beat very tough players. I tried to stay focused on my side and play as solidly as possible because he can have ups and downs so I tried to stay consistent.”

Victory extended Sinner’s winning run at the majors to 19 matches after triumphs at last year’s US Open and the Australian Open in January.

He will meet either sixth seed Novak Djokovic or German third seed Alexander Zverev in the last four.

After a drizzly morning with the roof on on Court Philippe-Chatrier, the sun was back out and the roof off when three-time Grand Slam champion Sinner took to the court and he needed only one hour and 51 minutes to dismantle Bublik.

After what he described as a “disgraceful” period in his career, Bublik’s surprise run at the French Open – in which he became the first Kazakh to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final – has seen him return to the top 50 in the rankings.

Refreshed from a recent trip to Las Vegas which proved to be a turning point in his form, Bublik has enjoyed the best run of his career at Roland Garros and said his win over British number one Jack Draper in round four was the “best moment of my life”.

His unorthodox approach to professional tennis – he has frequently discussed his complicated and frequently unhappy relationship with the sport – has allowed him to approach the French Open with freedom and enjoyment.

But a match against world number one Sinner for a place in the last four proved a bridge too far for the charismatic Bublik.

Sinner dominated the opening set, completely overpowering his opponent, and Bublik smiled with relief when he managed to hold at 5-0 to prevent a first-set bagel.

A tightly contested second set followed, with Bublik able to find some of the shots that stunned Draper last time out.

But while it was an improvement on set one, he failed to conjure a break point and a double fault at 5-5 to concede a break of serve was a sickening blow as Sinner’s pinpoint serve sealed the second set.

Normal service resumed for Sinner in the third set as he ruthlessly picked apart Bublik’s game, chasing down the drop shots that had proved so successful against Draper two days ago and returning his powerful forehand with ease.