Alexander Bublik Extends Career-Best Run at Australian Open

Alexander Bublik continued his exceptional start to the season with a hard-fought victory over Tomas Martin Etcheverry, overcoming the Argentine 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-4 to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open on a raucous evening on Margaret Court Arena.

The adoptive Kazakh native had never advanced past the second round in Melbourne before this week, and tonight's win extends a career-best run at the Australian Open in a year that has already yielded eye-catching success.

Bublik kicked off his 2026 campaign by claiming a ninth ATP title in Hong Kong - a triumph that catapulted him to a debut top-10 standing in the world rankings - and now finds himself in the second week of the year's opening major, having won seven straight matches and conceded just one set in the process.

The Kazakh's career was already evidently surging across a highly productive 2025, during which he claimed a remarkable four titles and reached a maiden Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland-Garros. Bublik also earned a memorable win over then-World No. 1 Jannik Sinner en route to the title in Halle last June, before another encouraging run to a career-best fourth round finish at the US Open.

So far this year, the new World No. 10 has demonstrated that this was not a temporary spike in level, as he has carried his excellent form into the business end of the Australian Open.

Bublik wins service-game arm-wrestle

Tonight was arguably his most impressive display in Melbourne thus far, coming through unscathed against a highly impressive Etcheverry. Despite the straight-set scoreline, this was a closely fought encounter.

It was a serve-dominated contest, with Bublik's first-serve win percentage finishing at a staggering 90%. The Argentine did little wrong, winning 75% of his own first serves and dropping serve just once across 17 service games.

Backed by a small but persistently vocal entourage of Argentine fans, Etcheverry pushed his opponent to two back-to-back tiebreaks across the first two sets, with neither player able to break serve.

Bublik had the edge in both those breakers, however, before earning that sole break of the match in the opening game of the third and final set - one that was enough for him to see out the match as his serve remained impenetrable throughout.

"I guess I've matured a bit," Bublik said after the win, when asked what has changed for him over the past twelve months. "And I really like being home, to be honest. I realised quickly when I dropped in the rankings that if I play well and I make a lots of points with a few wins, I can take more weeks off."

Newly focused Bublik continues to break new ground

Spoken with a sizeable dose of his trademark dry humour, it is clear Bublik's light-hearted character remains an important part of his persona.

But what was most striking about this evening's victory was the calm, controlled, and methodical manner in which the Kazakh was able to inch past Etcheverry by keeping his focus at the most critical junctures in the match.

He has always had extraordinary raw abilities on the match court, but this has frequently been negated by a mercurial personality that disproportionately lent itself to showmanship, too often to the detriment of his results.

The Bublik we have seen across the past seven months is an utterly different prospect to the player of his formative years on tour. Both the talent and exuberance remain, but it has been solidified by a mental fortitude and an all-match focus that has transformed the 28-year-old into one of the most dangerous players in the world.

If he is to extend this current win streak and reach just his second Grand Slam last-eight berth, however, he will need to draw upon all his mental reserves to stay collected in the face of what will no doubt be a vociferously partisan Melbourne crowd.

Bublik faces Australian No. 1 Alex de Minaur next, in what will be the sternest test so far this season of the Kazakh's credentials as a genuine top-level talent. The sixth-seeded de Minaur is playing exceptionally well and has the added impetus of a home major and the fierce support of the Australian faithful behind him.

Should Bublik come through that encounter, then one would have to concede - if it isn't clear already - that the perennial showman has now truly arrived at tennis' top table as the refined finished product that his early talent always promised he could be.

More Tennis News

Nike filed a trademark application for what could be Carlos Alcaraz's signature logo.

Stan Wawrinka is enjoying his best Australian Open run since 2017.

Jessica Pegula discusses her new partnership with Blueair.

American tennis stars face political questions at the Autralian Open.