PARIS: Alexander Bublik battled back to defeat Alex de Minaur on Friday and reach the first Masters 1000 semi-final of his career in Paris.

The Kazakh, enjoying his best-ever year, edged a dramatic contest 6-7(5/7), 6-4, 7-5 to set up a last-four meeting with Felix Auger-Aliassime, who earlier saw off Valentin Vacherot in his quarter-final.

Bublik is still in the race to qualify for next month’s ATP Finals in Turin, competing for the eighth and last berth with Lorenzo Musetti, Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev.

The 28-year-old, who has won four ATP titles this season, also staged a comeback from two sets down against De Minaur at Roland Garros earlier this year en route to the French Open quarter-finals.

He pulled off a similar trick in the French capital Friday and will be full of confidence before facing Auger-Aliassime on Saturday.

Australian sixth seed De Minaur edged a tight first set which stayed on serve by reeling off four straight points to recover from 5-3 down in the tie-break.

Bublik hit back, though, grabbing the first break of the match in the third game of the second set to help force a decider.

He saw two break points come and go in the ninth game of the third set, but managed to seal the crucial break in De Minaur’s next service game and calmly closed out victory.

Earlier, Auger-Aliassime cruised past Vacherot to keep his hopes of qualifying for the Finals alive.

The Canadian had come from a set down in all three of his previous matches at the La Defense Arena but eased past surprise Shanghai Masters champion Vacherot 6-2, 6-2.

Auger-Aliassime, targeting his second Masters 1000 final appearance, holds a 3-2 winning head-to-head record over Bublik.

“He (Vacherot) is so confident and you are kind of scared to be honest,” Auger-Aliassime said.

“You are not sure if he has got some magic right now that nobody else has but he is playing unbelievably.

“I had to be so focused from the start and this level of intensity from the first game I brought helped ease me into the match and I played some good tennis.”

Vacherot’s remarkable run of 10 successive wins in Masters events came to an end. He won the Shanghai tournament earlier this month as a 204th-ranked qualifier.

The Monegasque is still set to break into the world’s top 30 after another impressive performance in Paris as a wildcard.

Auger-Aliassime broke in a marathon opening game and went on to dominate the rest of the first set.

Vacherot appeared to be finding his feet early in the second set, but was broken twice in as many service games and slipped 5-2 behind.

He managed to bring up two break points, his first of the match, in the next game, but Auger-Aliassime saved both before successfully holding to finish the job.

On Thursday, Jannik Sinner eased past Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 while reigning champion Alexander Zverev earned a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round.

A maiden crown in the French capital will return Sinner to number one in the world rankings after current incumbent Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock early exit at the hands of Britain’s Cameron Norrie.

The Italian four-time Grand Slam cha­m­pion is yet to drop a set in the tou­r­nament as he hones in on what would be a fifth title of the season.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2025