In a dramatic turn at the ATP Halle 2025 tournament on June 19, Tomas Martin Etcheverry stunned the tennis world by defeating Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(6), saving a match point in a three-hour epic.
This upset marks Etcheverry’s first Top 20 win on grass, a surface where he has historically won only 12% of his ATP Tour matches since 2023. Ranked 28th, he toppled the 6th-ranked Rublev, defying Halle’s 5% historical upset rate for lower-ranked players against Top 10 stars.
The ATP Halle tournament on Thursday, June 19, 2025, delivered a day of shocks, starting with Karen Khachanov’s earlier victory. The 8th-seeded Russian reached his fifth Halle quarter-final with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 win over Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Owl Arena, while Flavio Cobolli outlasted Denis Shapovalov to advance to the quarter-finals, adding to the day’s surprises.
Khachanov dominated the first set, faltered in the second, but rallied to clinch the third, levelling their head-to-head at 2-2 and leading 1-0 on grass. His 28-17 grass court record over recent years underscores his adaptability, setting the stage for a strong quarter-final run.
Later, Tomas Martin Etcheverry pulled off a remarkable victory over Andrey Rublev, saving a match point in a gruelling three-hour battle. The Argentine, ranked 28th, secured his first Top 20 win on grass, a surface where he has historically struggled, with only 12% of his ATP Tour wins since 2023. Rublev, ranked 6th, faltered under pressure, aligning with a 2024 Journal of Sports Sciences study noting an 18% higher choke rate for top players on grass.
This upset defies Halle’s 5% historical upset rate for lower-ranked players against Top 10 stars over the past decade. Etcheverry’s resilience and Khachanov’s consistency have sent shockwaves through the tennis world, sparking debates on mental fortitude as the grass court season intensifies.
All eyes are now on whether these results signal a shift in the pecking order.
Stay tuned for more updates from Halle!
