Tennis player Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan, who has said he hates clay, is developing a taste for the surface at Roland Garros.
On Monday, Bublik defeated Jack Draper of Great Britain to reach the quarterfinals in Paris, his best performance in a major tournament. After the four-set victory, the world no. 62 fell to the ground in joy and relief and then got up, his face smeared with the court’s red clay.
“Sometimes in life there’s only one chance and I had a feeling that that was mine and I couldn’t let it slip,” the Russia-born player said in an on-court interview with Alex Corretja, a former Spanish player who thrived on clay when he was on the tour.
“Standing here is the best moment of my life. Period,” said the unseeded Bublik, who came back from one set down in the 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Draper, a top ten player.
In 2022, after defeating Stan Wawrinka in Monte Carlo, Bublik complained that he was moving like an “elephant” on the clay and declared: “I hate this surface.”
Bublik isn’t the only player to have struggled with clay, which tends to involve a lot of sliding, high bounces and grit and patience during long, energy-sapping rallies. Maria Sharapova once said she felt like “a cow on ice” on clay, though she won two of her five majors at Roland Garros. Similarly, it took a while for Andre Agassi to warm to clay but one of his eight majors came in Paris.
Bublik isn’t in the league of those champions, but just as they did, he is coming around to clay. His best previous result at a Grand Slam tournament was the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2023.
“All of Bublik’s four tour-level titles and 11 finals have come on either hard or grass courts. His 25 wins and 41 per cent win rate on clay entering Roland Garros are both his lowest marks across all surfaces,” the ATP Tour website said.
“You know, I’m standing here like I won” the tournament, the delighted 27-year-old said after the win over Draper. “But at the end, yeah, what can I say. Thank you guys. I mean I can’t cry here. Come on, stop. Let me be in peace.”
When Corretja invited him to go ahead and cry, Bublik said: “I still have a match to go. I’m a professional tennis player. I’ve got to get ready.”
That’s for sure. On Wednesday, he plays world no. 1 Jannik Sinner.
