Bublik gets 100th win on hard court in Marseille after overcoming Gasquet

Alexander Bublik overcame Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-4 at the indoor ATP 250 to register his 100th tour-level win on hard courts and ended the Open 13 Provence career of a crowd favourite on Tuesday afternoon in Marseille.

Bublik crucially broke Gasquet’s serve in the penultimate game of each set, and on both occasions he served out the next game to love en route to an 82-minute first-round win.

After falling behind 0-3 early, Bublik dialled in on serve and produced an all-around aggressive display in which he finished with 37 winners, including 13 aces. The No. 48 in the PIF ATP Rankings completed his win having converted three of five break points he earned, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

A former World No. 7, Gasquet remains the youngest match winner in event history in Marseille, where he defeated Feliciano Lopez as a 16-year-old in 2003. Now 38 years old, the Frenchman was on Tuesday bidding to mark his final appearance at the event by also become the oldest match winner in tournament history, but he was unable to stick with Bublik once the Kazakhstani settled into the match.

“He has a spectacular career, 20 years on Tour and 1,012 matches. I don’t think I would ever get to that point,” said Bublik of Gasquet, who will retire after this year’s Roland Garros. “I guess it has to be a great feeling to play your last Marseille after so many years. I wish him a great retirement. He has a couple more events, but this isn’t about me now. He’s a legend of French tennis and I wish him a lot of luck.”

The four-time ATP Tour champion Bublik will next take on another French star in second seed and defending champion Ugo Humbert. It will be the second Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting between the pair, after Humbert triumphed in the 2024 Dubai championship match.

Daniel Altmaier and Luca Van Assche were also early winners on Tuesday in Marseille. Germany’s Altmaier eased past Luca Nardi 6-2, 6-2 to set a second-round meeting with Otto Virtanen, while Van Assche saved two match points in the deciding-set tie-break to prevail 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(7) in an all French battle against Benjamin Bonzi. With his first tour-level win of 2025, the 20-year-old Van Assche advanced to face seventh seed Lorenzo Sonego.