Friday in the Mexican city of Monterrey we’ve got a Challenger Tournament Quarter-final on our hands involving a tour veteran from Spain – Feliciano Lopez and Alexander Bublik. Both talented players will play in a serious confrontation. Review our thoughts on this match here below.
Alexander Bublik
Firstly about the Kazakhstani Bublik. This young kid already made a couple of surprises last season. He had a couple of big scalps and the most famous one was probably Roberto Bautista Agut. The future seems bright for Alex as he’s only 21 years old. This season is already looking great as Kazakhstani already has to titles under his belt. Both came on an indoor hard – one in Hungary and one in France. This tournament started in a probably more difficult win than expected against a Serb Kristin but the second-round win against American Krueger was pretty straight forward. Bublik likes finishing points at the net as he’s got a great serve and is a tall guy at 1.96m. It’s barely a surprise these days but like most of the big men in our era he moves very well, has a good backhand and a very nasty slice on which he relies on tight situations. He somewhat reminds of Sascha Zverev, only likes to come to the net more often.
Feliciano Lopez
Now his opponent – Feli Lopez. One of the most recognizable Spanish tennis players. An experienced and one of the fittest guys on the tour. A true professional. Still fighting in his mid-thirties. Though his form has dipped in the last couple of seasons. His last and the arguably most prestigious title was lifted in 2017 on his beloved grass surface in Queens. After that win, Lopez struggled with consistency. Only 8 matches this season resulting on four wins and four losses. This tournament Feli started with an easy win against a fellow Spaniard Gomez – Herrera. Feli’s tennis is very easy on the eye. He’s the opposite of your Spanish clay-courter image. His favorite surface is grass. And the faster the court the better actually. Has a great serve, also is a lefty, a beautiful volleyer of the ball, very good touch and feel on the ball. His forehand is very solid and his main weakness is his backhand topspin, which he rarely uses and instead likes to cut the ball and his slice is one of the best on the tour.
H2H
This is their first meeting.
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