When you watch Alexander Bublik play, you will be entertained.
The 26-year-old pulls opponents around with his court craft, combining deft drop shots with effortless power to light up the Tour. For Bublik, the ability to make people smile is why he plays the game.
“I want to be seen as a good man who has respect for the game, for the fans and for the entertainment, because that is what sport is all about,” Bublik told ATPTour.com.
The Kazakhstani's all-court game saw him capture his second tour-level title in Halle last week. This week, he is putting on a show at Wimbledon, where he next plays Andrey Rublev in the fourth round.
Bublik’s fun personality has been on display since he made his debut in 2016, but what is he like off court?
“I am laid back and honest. I enjoy playing table tennis. I enjoy walking around and discovering things,” Bublik said as he cracked a smile. “I love nature. Back home we have a lot of forests and parks and castles. I grew up discovering all of this. I went and discovered dungeons when I was younger because we had them all open. Where I live now is all nature with a lot of history.”
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Holding a key interest in a variety of subjects, Bublik enjoys spending his downtime investigating and learning.
The 26-year-old revealed he has held a love for history from a young age. In recent years, this has grown further, with Bublik grasping the travel opportunities the Tour gives him to further enhance his knowledge.
“You must know history to know about the future because history repeats itself all over again,” Bublik said when discussing the subject. “Reading is important for your own education. When I was in Paris I went to the Louvre and looked at some sculptures from Ancient Greece, which I found very interesting.
“Then I started reading about that period and it was interesting. If you gain information little by little, by the age of 40 you can have a conversation about a range of topics. I think it is very important to be able to talk about different topics with different people.”
With London home to a wide variety of world-leading museums, the opportunities for Bublik to explore are huge. However, for him, there is something else that catches his eye in the UK capital and it is not strawberries and cream that are served up at The All England Lawn Tennis Club.
“I like the aesthetics of a good car in front of a building," said Bublik, who clinched his second tour-level title in Halle last monht. "Especially in London. It is the different culture and architecture of buildings in London I like and I think fancy cars in front of them look good.”
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When Bublik takes to court against Rublev, his focus will be back on the job at hand. By reaching the fourth round, he has recorded his best run at a Slam.
If he can go one step further and secure his spot in the quarter-finals for the first time, a celebration may be in order when he returns home to Monte-Carlo before heading out to the United States for the hard-court swing.
