Back to Tennis
Breaking 🎾 Tennis 2 min read

World No. 166 Alex Molcan stuns Alexander Bublik in opening round at Munich

MA

Martin Lehotský

Published 2 months ago

Alex Molcan, ranked 166th in the world, caused a major upset in the first round of the ATP 500 clay tournament in Munich on Tuesday. The Slovak, coming through qualifying, stunned Alexander Bublik, defeating the world number eleven without dropping a set (6-4, 6-2).

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/molcan-alex/drgiRTl7/"]Molcan[/a] reached the main draw of the German ATP 500 event through qualifying, where he first had to come back from a set down against Spanish opponent Roberto Carballes Baena, and then overcame American Emilio Nava.[/p][p]After those successes, he knew he was in for a tough challenge in the opening round of the ATP tournament, facing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bublik-alexander/t0WN9vR6/"]Bublik[/a].[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/bublik-a-t0WN9vR6/molcan-a-drgiRTl7/?mid=KSK0ITQE"]The Slovak started the match perfectly[/a] - he broke the favourite’s serve right away, held his own serve to confirm the break, and led 2-0. However, he soon lost that promising lead and the score was level again.[/p][embed guid="13e25b4d-252f-49ea-b1cf-f269af96bd7d" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLSFsGLy9PY&pp=ygUGQnVibGlr" social-type="youtube" /][p]Molcan managed another break and even had a chance for a third in the ninth game, holding two set points on his opponent’s serve. He didn’t convert them, but it didn’t matter, as he secured the opening set in the very next game.[/p][p]The second set was much more straightforward - Molcan never faltered on serve, broke Bublik twice, and sealed the surprise victory on his third match point.[/p][p]With this win, the Slovak shocked the heavily favoured opponent and claimed his first victory over a top-20 player in three years. In the round of 16, he will face [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/altmaier-daniel/IPR8h9gM/"]Daniel Altmaier[/a], ranked 56th in the world.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/tennis/atp-singles/munich/"]Follow the ATP 500 in Munich with Flashcore.[/a][/b][/p]

Related stories

🎾 Tennis New

Keys and Ostapenko storm into Eastbourne semis, Draper through on men's side

AFP
🎾 Tennis New

Borges downs top seed Darderi in Mallorca quarters, Davidovich Fokina through

AFP
🎾 Tennis New

Superb start not enough for Tauson to overcome Muchova at Bad Homburg

Svend Bertil Frandsen
🎾 Tennis New

Dominant Osaka eases past Alexandrova into Bad Homburg semis, Muchova advances

AFP
🎾 Tennis New

Top seed Taylor Fritz regrettably withdraws from Eastbourne to prioritise Wimbledon

Reuters
🎾 Tennis New

French Open champion Mirra Andreeva falls at first hurdle at Bad Homburg

AFP