ALEXANDER BUBLIK produced the “best shot that never counted” during his match against Ben Shelton at the National Bank Open.
The popular pair were in round one action yesterday in Montreal.
American favourite Shelton, 21, produced an excellent performance to put Bublik on the ropes.
Leading 7-6 6-2 40-0, the former US Open semi-finalist found himself three match points up and cruising.
Southpaw Shelton unleashed a lefty serve down the T, with Bublik straining to bat it back.
With the Kazakh at his mercy, Shelton produced a deft backhand drop shot.
Having no chance of reaching it, Bublik tossed his racquet towards the ball, as many club players around the world have.
Incredibly his racquet made perfect contact with the ball, diverting it back over the net.
Shelton momentarily found himself scrambling after it, before realising that he’d won the point the moment Bublik discarded his racquet.
Rules state that as soon as the racquet is no longer controlled by a player’s wrist, the resulting shot is null and void.
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Bublik’s racquet also struck the net after making contact with the ball, which would also lose him the point.
With the umpire correctly pointing this out, the match was won by Shelton.
The world No14 looked pumped that his pal Bublik had pulled off such a trickshot, high-fiving and hugging him while wearing an enormous grin.
Despite losing the match, Bublik also beamed from ear to ear, pleased with his trick shot.
Later that day, Shelton and Bublik teamed up in the men’s doubles event.
In round one, the pair defeated recent Wimbledon champions Harri Heliovaara and Colchester’s Henry Patten.
But they came unstuck in round two, when they took on British No1 Jack Draper and world No1 Jannik Sinner.
The star-studded match saw Draper and Sinner triumph 7-6 6-1 to move into round three – in which they will face either Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski or second seeds Rohan Bopanna and Matt Ebden.
Shelton will return to action in the singles to take on Australian Alexei Popyrin.
