A nightmare has returned to haunt Alex de Minaur on Halloween as he suffered a frightful repeat of his Roland Garros capitulation to Alexander Bublik at the Paris Masters.

Just as in the French capital in May, when the Australian was left dumbstruck by a loss from two sets up against the enigmatic Kazakh, de Minaur surrendered control again in their quarter-final clash on Friday to succumb 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 7-5.

The Australian No.1 will doubtless be haunted by a double fault - a horror ninth in all - in the penultimate game that gifted Bublik his second and decisive break of the match as he reached a Masters semi-final for the first time in his maverick career.

“I tried, you know, to get ready in the same way like I was getting ready for him in Paris at Roland Garros,” Bublik said.

“So the

See Full Page