Britain’s No 1 Jack Draper crashed out in the fourth round of the French Open after falling to a dominant Alexander Bublik on Monday.
The first set was a close contest, but Draper slowly became unravelled by top-quality tennis from the Kazakh, who constantly seemed one step ahead during the latter half of the match as he secured a 5-7 6-3 6-2 6-4 win over the Brit.
Bublik will now face Jannik Sinner or Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam and becomes the first Kazakh man to reach that stage.
It meant an end to Britain’s hopes in the singles at Roland Garros after Cameron Norrie was beaten by Novak Djokovic about an hour earlier.
Draper had matched Bublik serve for serve in the first set until he was gifted the break for 6-5 by a double-fault.
The 23-year-old also broke at the start of the second, but from then on, things just seemed to unravel.
Bublik, to his credit, was hitting the ball gloriously at times, his drop shots repeatedly leaving Draper stranded.
The stress on Draper’s face was there for all to see as Bublik marched into a 2-1 set lead, with the Londoner simply unable to halt the momentum.
In a marathon final game, Draper saved a match point and had five break points, but was unable to take any of them.
In the build-up to the match, Bublik had compared Draper to a UFC fighter, but after two hours and 34 minutes, it was the 6ft 5in underdog who landed the knockout blow.
“Sometimes in life there is only one chance, I had a feeling that was mine and I couldn’t let it slip,” Bublik said on TNT Sports.
“Standing here, it’s the best moment of my life, period. I’m standing here like I won the thing. What else can I say, I can’t cry here.
“I still have a match to go, I’m a professional tennis player, I have to get ready.”
Norrie limps out of French Open
Cameron Norrie was beaten by Novak Djokovic
Norrie limped out of the French Open after his best run at Roland Garros was ended by Djokovic claiming a 6-2 6-3 6-2 win.
At the changeover Djokovic needed treatment on the blister that flared up during his second-round win over Corentin Moutet.
Norrie then needed his medical time-out after seeming to tweak something in his foot, before he was promptly broken as Djokovic moved two sets up.
Another poor service game from Norrie gave Djokovic a foothold in the third and the 38-year-old duly wrapped up a comfortable win in a little over two hours.
Still, it has been a successful campaign for Norrie, who should find himself back in the world’s top 60 ahead of the grass season, having dipped as low as 91 following a rough couple of years.
Djokovic will face German third seed Alexander Zverev, who came through against Tallon Griekspoor after the Dutchman retired injured in the second set, in the quarter-finals.
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