PARIS (Reuters) -Kazakhstan’s trickster Alexander Bublik always brings a novel approach to his matches and off court too he defies convention, describing how a three-day trip to Las Vegas to let off steam helped turn around his year.
The 27-year-old reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for only the second time in his career on Saturday as he beat Portugal’s Henrique Rocha 7-5 6-1 6-2, setting up a clash with Briton’s fifth seed Jack Draper.
Bublik reached a high of 17 in the rankings last year but dropped to 82 in March after a first-round exit at Indian Wells left him questioning whether he had what it took to compete with what he calls the tennis ‘robots’.
The answer? A trip to The Strip.
“To be honest, my fall was not linked with lack of attitude and lack of practising. It was the exact opposite. I just burned out because I was waiting for the results to come,” he told reporters.
“I was like, if I practise more, if I hit better forehands, it will come. It didn’t, and then I got to the point, like, Okay, why am I sacrificing so much? For what?
“My coach suggests a trip to Vegas in between Indian Wells and Phoenix. He’s like, ‘man, if you play like this, we’re going to be out of tennis, out of the conversation by Wimbledon.”
Asked if the trip to the notorious Nevada playground was a training trip to Vegas or a Vegas trip to Vegas, Bublik said: “No, Vegas, Vegas, like a hangover thing Vegas, yeah.
“It was a good three days. I arrived three hours before the match in Phoenix. I had just let it all out. I said, I’m useless now, I can’t win a match, so let it be, let’s see how it goes.”
What happened was that Bublik reached the final in the second-tier Challenger event and something clicked.
During the claycourt season he made the fourth round in Madrid and won a Challenger in Turin.
Bublik, who describes himself as a normal guy, said he has accepted that he cannot compete with the world’s very best on their terms, so has to bring something different to the table, be it underarm serves, through-the-leg returns or mind-boggling drop shots — all played with a smile on his face.
“I’m not a fighting person. In order for me to win against the best of the best, and I prove that I’m capable of doing that, I have to find ways to outplay them because they will outwork me, outrun me,” he said.
“I also find the ways to win matches, to find a way how can I beat those guys with what I have, and I have a lot, in terms of an arsenal of shots, shot selections.
“Sometimes I have to go for crazy shots, but this is the only option I have. Otherwise, what happened with me when I was 17 is that I tried to play (their game).”
In an age of sports science, endless gym work and nutrition plans, Bublik bucks the trend and do not expect him to enter a war of attrition with Draper.
“Jack for me is insane. I saw him first day here. I’m like, are you getting ready for UFC?” Bublik said. “Last year the guy is 40 in the world, this year he is top four, that’s a crazy achievement. How can I beat him? I don’t know. I will just go there, enjoy the time, show what I’m capable of showing.”
(Reporting by Martyn HermanEditing by Toby Davis)
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