Alexander Bublik has put together one of the most impressive winning streaks on the ATP Tour in recent months, claiming four titles in a row across three different surfaces. That streak came to an end last week in Beijing, where he was stopped in the first round by Adrian Mannarino.
Although his winning streak came to an end, it had already served its purpose for the Kazakh. After failing to defend key points from the first half of 2024, Bublik was heading toward a drop out of the top 100 earlier this year. However, a sudden surge in form and a series of wins have completely turned his season around, propelling him as high as #16 in the rankings.
Bublik is in an intriguing position now. Given his unpredictable nature, it is unclear whether he will find his way back to another winning streak or continue to trend downward. At the Shanghai Masters, he has played two main-draw matches so far and lost both, making his performance this week particularly interesting to watch.
This has been a largely unproductive season for Valentin Vacherot, who began the year ranked #140 and currently sits at #204. In this difficult phase, a strong run like the one he is putting together at the Shanghai Masters can be a real confidence booster. He overcame Nishesh Basavareddy and Liam Draxl in the qualifying rounds and followed that with a first-round win over Laslo Djere.
Prior to this week, the Monaco-born player had a 1-5 record in the first round of tour-level events. That sole victory also came at a Masters event, in Monte Carlo earlier this year, where he eventually fell in the second round to Grigor Dimitrov in three sets, a solid effort nonetheless.
Head-to-head: 0-0. On paper, Alexander Bublik is one of the hottest streaking players on the ATP Tour right now, but he is equally capable of doing the opposite and undoing all his good work. He could easily fall into a losing streak and even go winless for the rest of the year. As with any match involving Bublik, his opponents always have a chance if his focus and motivation on the day are below the required level. Given his tendency to give up under tough conditions, it will be interesting to see how he copes in Shanghai.
