Alexander Bublik

Alexander Stanislavovich Bublik (; born 17 June 1997) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 17, achieved on 6 May 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 47, achieved on 8 November 2021. He is the current Kazakhstani No. 1 in men's singles. Bublik recorded his greatest success at a Grand Slam event at the 2025 French Open where he reached the quarterfinals in singles, the first Kazakhstani man to achieve the feat. Bublik was also the runner-up in doubles at the 2021 French Open, partnering fellow countryman Andrey Golubev, the first Kazakhstani male players to contest a major final. He has won four ATP Tour singles titles.

Early life

Alexander Stanislavovich Bublik was born on 17 June 1997 in Gatchina, Russia and began playing tennis at the age of four. He was coached by his father, Stanislav.

Career

On the junior tour, Bublik reached a career-high ranking of No. 19 and won eleven titles (six singles and five doubles) on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior circuit.

2016: Futures titles and first ATP wins

Bublik began 2016 ranked World No. 964. He won his first Futures title in Doha in April 2016, followed by titles in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Sweden.

Bublik made his ATP main-draw debut at the 2016 St. Petersburg Open, where he received wildcards into both the singles and doubles main draw.

Bublik qualified for the Kremlin Cup, where he notched the biggest win of his career, upsetting Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets in the round of 16. He then lost a tight three-set match to the eventual champion Pablo Carreño Busta.

In November 2016, Bublik announced that he would represent Kazakhstan.

By the end of the year, Bublik's ranking had skyrocketed to No. 205.

2017: Two Challenger titles and top-100 breakthrough

After qualifying for the Australian Open, Bublik defeated 16th-seeded Lucas Pouille in his first Grand Slam tournament match.

In February, Bublik won his first Challenger title at the Morelos Open, defeating Nicolas Jarry in the final.

At Wimbledon, Bublik received a spot in the main draw as a lucky loser. He was defeated by world No. 1 Andy Murray in his first Wimbledon appearance.

Bublik won his second Challenger title in Aptos. In September, after making the semifinals of a Challenger tournament in Istanbul, Bublik broke into the top 100 for the first time, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 95.

2018: Struggles with form

Bublik struggled for much of the 2018 season, seeing his ranking drop into the 200s. However, he prevailed in his last event of the year, winning eight matches to capture the Challenger title in Bratislava.

2019: Two ATP Finals, top-50 debut

Bublik was successful early on in 2019, winning his fourth Challenger title in Budapest, followed shortly by another title at Pau.

Bublik earned his first Masters 1000 win in Miami, winning two qualifying matches and defeating Tennys Sandgren in a third-set tiebreak.

His next tournament was in Monterrey, where he again defeated Sandgren in a third-set tiebreak en route to his sixth Challenger title. This win propelled Bublik back into the top 100.

Bublik won his first French Open main-draw match over Rudolf Molleker, before losing a close four-set contest to eventual finalist Dominic Thiem.

At the tournament in Newport, Bublik reached his first ATP final, where he was defeated by the top seed John Isner.

Bublik had a successful US Open campaign, where he won two consecutive five-set matches. He came back from two sets to love down against Thomas Fabbiano to reach his first major third round.

Bublik reached his second ATP 250 final of the season in Chengdu, where he defeated top-30 players Taylor Fritz and Grigor Dimitrov, before losing the final in a third-set tiebreak to Pablo Carreño Busta. The result helped him to reach a new career-high of No. 48 in November.

2020: First major doubles semifinal, first top-10 singles win

At the 2020 Australian Open Bublik reached his first semifinal at a major in doubles partnering fellow Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin where they lost to Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury.

Bublik reached the semifinals of Marseille, where he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets. As a lucky loser, Bublik reached the quarterfinals of Hamburg, beating Albert Ramos Viñolas and Félix Auger-Aliassime, before losing to Cristian Garín in 3 sets.

He had his first top-10 victory against Gaël Monfils at the 2020 French Open, but lost to Lorenzo Sonego in the second round.

2021: Two ATP singles finals, top-35 debut, historic French Open doubles final

Bublik started his 2021 season at the Antalya Open. Seeded eighth, he reached his third ATP 250 final, notching his second top-10 victory against top seed and world No. 10, Matteo Berrettini, in the quarterfinals. He was forced to retire in the final after trailing 0–2 in the first set against Alex de Minaur.

In the Great Ocean Road Open, he lost in the third round to Stefano Travaglia. At the Australian Open, he lost in the second round to Dušan Lajović in 4 sets.

He reached his fourth final in Singapore after beating Altuğ Çelikbilek, Yoshihito Nishioka and Radu Albot. He lost to Alexei Popyrin in the final.

At the 2021 Miami Open, Bublik reached the quarterfinals where he lost to Jannik Sinner. This marked his best result at a Masters 1000 event to date.

At the 2021 Madrid Open, he defeated Denis Shapovalov and Aslan Karatsev to equal his previous Masters 1000 result, but lost to Casper Ruud. As a result, he achieved his career-high ranking of World No. 40 on 10 May 2021.

In only his sixth appearance at a major in doubles, Bublik reached his second major doubles semifinal in his career at the 2021 French Open partnering with fellow Kazakh Andrey Golubev defeating No. 5 seeded Ivan Dodig/Filip Polášek (second round), No. 11 seeded Wesley Koolhof/Jean-Julien Rojer (third round) and Hugo Nys/Tim Pütz (quarterfinals) en route, his best showing at this major. In the semifinal the Kazakh duo defeated the Spanish duo Pablo Andújar/Pedro Martínez who were both making their major semifinals doubles debut. They played in the final against the French home favorites Nicolas Mahut/Pierre-Hugues Herbert, but they lost in three sets. As a result, he entered the top 50 in doubles at World No. 49 on 14 June 2021.

2022: First ATP singles title

Bublik started his 2022 season at the Adelaide International 2. Seeded sixth, he lost in the first round to Australian wildcard Aleksandar Vukic. At the Australian Open, he was defeated in the second round by 17th seed and world No. 20, Gaël Monfils.

In February, Bublik reached his fifth ATP singles final at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier. Seeded sixth, he defeated Tallon Griekspoor, qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert, second seed Roberto Bautista Agut, and fifth seed Filip Krajinović en route to the final. In the final, he defeated top seed and world No. 3, Alexander Zverev, to earn his first career win over a top-five player, as well as his first ATP singles title. At the Rotterdam Open, he was eliminated from the tournament in the first round by Andy Murray. Seeded seventh at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, he lost in the second round to Arthur Rinderknech. In Dubai, he was beaten in the first round by fifth seed and world No. 11, Hubert Hurkacz. Representing Kazakhstan in the Davis Cup tie against Norway, he won both of his matches by beating Viktor Durasovic and world No. 8 Casper Ruud. In the end, Kazakhstan won the tie over Norway 3–1 to reach the Davis Cup Finals. Seeded 31st at the Indian Wells Masters, he beat 2009 finalist and former world No. 1, Andy Murray, in the second round. He lost in the third round to 33rd seed and last year semifinalist, Grigor Dimitrov. Seeded 30th at the Miami Open, he was defeated in the third round by sixth seed, world No. 8, and eventual finalist, Casper Ruud.

Bublik started his clay-court season at the Monte-Carlo Masters. He beat 2014 champion, Stan Wawrinka, in the first round for his first win at this event. He retired during his second-round match against 13th seed and world No. 19, Pablo Carreño Busta, for no obvious reason. Seeded 16th at the Barcelona Open, he was beaten in the second round by Emil Ruusuvuori. Last year quarterfinalist at the Madrid Open, he lost in the first round to Miomir Kecmanović. Due to not defending his quarterfinalist points from last year, Bublik's ranking fell from 33 to 41. In Rome, he was defeated in the first round by lucky loser Marcos Giron. Seeded eighth at the Geneva Open, he lost in the first round to Kamil Majchrzak. At the French Open, he lost his second-round match to 28th seed, Miomir Kecmanović, in four sets.

Bublik started his grass-court season at the BOSS Open in Stuttgart. Seeded seventh, he lost in the second round to eventual finalist, Andy Murray. At the Queen's Club Championships, he was defeated in the second round by seventh seed, world No. 17, and two-time champion, Marin Čilić. In Eastbourne, he beat seventh seed, Frances Tiafoe, in the first round. He was eliminated in the quarterfinals by third seed, world No. 14, 2019 champion, and eventual champion, Taylor Fritz. At Wimbledon, he reached the third round where he lost to 23rd seed and world No. 28, Frances Tiafoe, in four sets.

After Wimbledon, Bublik competed at the Hall of Fame Open. Seeded third, he beat sixth seed, Andy Murray, in the quarterfinals. He then defeated Jason Kubler in the semifinals to reach his sixth ATP singles final, his second ATP singles final of the year, and his second Hall of Fame Open final. He lost in a thrilling final to fourth seed Maxime Cressy.

In August, Bublik played at the National Bank Open. He lost in the first round to Jenson Brooksby. Bublik then missed the Western & Southern Open, and the Winston-Salem Open due to the birth of his son Vasily. Returning to action at the US Open, he was defeated in the second round by 12th seed, world No. 15, and two-time semifinalist, Pablo Carreño Busta.

In October at the first edition of the Firenze Open, he defeated in the first round Cristian Garín for his 100th career match win. He was the second man representing Kazakhstan to record 100 tour-level wins in his career, after Mikhail Kukushkin, who had 172.

2023: First ATP 500 and second ATP 250 titles, top 25

Bublik started his 2023 season by representing Kazakhstan at the first edition of the United Cup. Kazakhstan was in Group B alongside Switzerland and Poland. Against Switzerland, he lost to Stan Wawrinka. Against Poland, he was defeated by Hubert Hurkacz in three sets. In the end, Kazakhstan ended third in Group B. Seeded fifth at the ASB Classic in Auckland, he lost in the first round to David Goffin. At the Australian Open, he pushed 30th seed and world No. 32, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, to five sets, but he ended up losing his first-round match.

After the Australian Open, Bublik represented Kazakhstan in the Davis Cup tie against Chile. He lost both of his matches to Nicolás Jarry and Cristian Garín. In the end, Chile won the tie over Kazakhstan 3–1. Seeded sixth and defending champion at the Open Sud de France, he was defeated in a dramatic first-round match by Grégoire Barrère. In Rotterdam, he lost in the first round to doubles partner Stan Wawrinka. In doubles, he and Wawrinka upset second seeded team Nikola Mektić/Mate Pavić in the first round. They lost in their quarterfinal match to Belgian qualifiers Sander Gillé/Joran Vliegen. At the Open 13 Provence, he beat fourth seed and world No. 25, Grigor Dimitrov, in the quarterfinals in three sets; he saved two match points in the third set tie-breaker. He lost in the semifinals to top seed and world No. 11, Hubert Hurkacz, who would end up winning the tournament. At the Dubai Championships, he was beaten in the second round by third seed, world No. 7, and eventual champion, Daniil Medvedev. During the week of 6 March, Bublik competed at the BNP Paribas Open. He lost in the first round to qualifier Wu Tung-lin. Seeded fourth at the Arizona Classic, he ousted defending champion, Denis Kudla, in the first round. He reached the quarterfinals where he lost to qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff. In Miami, he was defeated in the first round by J. J. Wolf.

Bublik started his clay-court season at the Monte-Carlo Masters. He fell in the first round to 13th seed and world No. 16, Alexander Zverev, in three sets. This was his first loss to Zverev after having led their Head to Head rivalry 2–0. In Barcelona, he lost in the first round to Emil Ruusuvuori. At the Madrid Open, he beat Daniel Elahi Galán in the first round after playing in the longest tie-break of the season so far. In the second round, he lost to sixth seed and world No. 7, Holger Rune, in three sets, despite having match point at 8–7 in the third set tie-break. Seeded sixth at the Open Aix Provence, he made it to the quarterfinals where he was defeated by French lucky loser Harold Mayot. In Rome, he reached the third round where he lost to world No. 4, Casper Ruud, in three sets. At the Geneva Open, he was eliminated in the first round by Marcos Giron.

In Halle, Bublik kicked off his grass court season with an upset over seventh seed Borna Ćorić, crushing Coric in straight sets. Bublik then emerged victorious in a close-fought hard three set win over Madrid Open finalist Jan-Lennard Struff, to reach the quarterfinals. Bublik, in the quarterfinals, defeated Jannik Sinner by a second set retirement after he had won a riveting first set to reach the semifinals of an ATP 500 for the first time in his career. He then defeated Alexander Zverev and reached the biggest final of his career. There Bublik played against third seed Andrey Rublev, with whom he had an 0–3 head-to-head record. Bublik sealed a thrilling three set victory to close out on the biggest title of his career and become the first Kazakhstani to win an ATP 500 singles title since Andrey Golubev's ATP World Tour 500 series title in 2010, in Hamburg. As a result, Bublik soared 22 spots in the rankings to No. 26, his career highest singles ranking on 26 June 2023. He further reached a new career-high in the top 25 on 31 July 2023.

2024: Fourth ATP title, Dubai Open final and career high ranking

Bublik began his 2024 campaign at the Adelaide international ATP 250 event in January. He beat James Mcabe, Dan Evans and 25th ranked, Lorenzo Musetti on his way to the semi-final, where he was beaten by Jack Draper in two sets. Bublik would suffer a surprise upset at the Australian Open 1st round where he lost to 137th ranked qualifier, Sumit Nagal in straight sets. Following this Bublik competed at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier which he had previously won in 2022. Bublik won the tournament claiming his fourth ATP singles title, defeating Denis Shapovalov, Alexander Shevchenko, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Borna Coric. Bublik lost the opening set in all four of his matches making him the only player to win an ATP singles tournament having lost the opening set of each match.

At the Dubai Championships Bublik was victorious in two close matches, first against Tomas Machac in the round of 32 then against 28th ranked, Tallon Griekspoor in the round of 16. In the quarter final his opponent Jiri Lehecka would retire after trailing in the second set. Bublik next faced world number 5, Andrey Rublev in the semi-final. In a closely fought match Rublev won the first set in a tie-break, despite Bublik having led at the beginning of the set. In the second set Bublik won in another tie-break. In the final set after Bublik held serve, Rublev shouted in the face of a line judge resulting in him being defaulted for unsportsmanlike conduct. As a result Bublik went through to the final where he faced Ugo Humbert. Bublik lost the final having been broken twice. Bublik received media attention after giving his racket to a ball kid in the middle of a match at the Monte-carlo Masters. He would go on to suffer a heavy defeat to Borna Coric losing in straight sets in the round of 32. In the following tournament at the Madrid Open, Bublik beat world number 15, Ben Shelton on his less favoured surface. Bublik would subsequently lose to Daniil Medvedev in the round of 16. On the 6th of May Bublik reached a career high singles ranking of 17.

At the Lyon Open ATP 250 event in May, Bublik reached the semi-final where he lost to newcomer and eventual champion Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. Bublik went out in the straight sets at the second round of the French Open against Jan-Lennard Struff. At Wimbledon Bublik won in the opening round against Jakub Mensik after having lost the opening two sets. He then beat Arthur Cazaux in straight sets to reach the third round. Bublik would lose to world number 13 Tommy Paul in straight sets in the third round losing in three sets.

Bublik had a poor second half of the season. Losing nine of his eleven matches from the Paris Olympics to the end of the season. This resulted in Bublik dropping from his career high ranking to world number 33.

2025: Historic French Open quarterfinal

At the 2025 French Open Bublik reached the quarterfinals in singles, defeating 9th seed Alex de Minaur and 5th seed Jack Draper en route, becoming the first Kazakhstani man to reach a Grand Slam tournament singles quarterfinal, where he lost to Jannik Sinner in straight sets.

National representation

Davis Cup

Bublik has participated three times in the Kazakhstan Davis Cup team since 2019 and as of 2022, he has a win–loss record of 9–4 in singles and 3–2 in doubles in Davis Cup competition. In 2021, he elaborated on his motivation when playing at the Davis Cup by explaining, "I take Davis Cup more seriously than hesingles Tour because I'm not only playing for myself, but I play for the country, for the fans, and it's extra." Despite his more sporadic record on the ATP Tour, Bublik reiterated that, "In Davis Cup, I don't have 30 weeks to have good behaviour, bad behaviour, good match or bad match. I think I just go on court and try to be the best now, do what I can do now at the special moment."

He made his Davis Cup debut at the 2019 qualifying round in his singles match against Portugals João Sousa, where he won in three sets to help Kazakhstan advance to the 2019 Finals. At the Finals, Bublik narrowly lost to Robin Haase of the Netherlands in three sets, but he teamed up with Mikhail Kukushkin to win the deciding doubles match against Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer and seal their first tie win. In Kazakhstan's tie against Great Britain, Bublik played his second singles match, where he defeated Dan Evans, but he lost his doubles match with Kukushkin to Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski. With the loss against Great Britain, Kazakhstan lost in the group stage and thus, ended their campaign.

Bublik played the following year's qualifying round, where they faced off against Netherlands once more. He won his first singles match against Tallon Griekspoor and his second against Haase, both in straight sets, and brought his team through to the 2021 Finals. At the Finals, Bublik took on Swedens Mikael Ymer and won in three sets to help his team win the tie. He maintained his momentum against Canadas Vasek Pospisil in their next tie to win in straight sets to bring Kazakhstan to its sixth quarterfinal at the Davis Cup. There, Bublik succumbed to Serbias Novak Djokovic in straight sets and the team ultimately lost its tie to end their campaign.

In 2022, Representing Kazakhstan at the Davis Cup tie versus Norway, he won both of his matches beating Viktor Durasovic and Casper Ruud. In the end, Kazakhstan won the tie over Norway 3–1. After the US Open, Bublik represented Kazakhstan in the Davis Cup Group stage. Kazakhstan is in Group D alongside The Netherlands, the US, and Great Britain. Against the Netherlands, he lost to Botic van de Zandschulp; however, he won the doubles tie with Aleksandr Nedovyesov beating Wesley Koolhof /Matwé Middelkoop. The Netherlands won the tie over Kazakhstan 2–1. Against the US, he lost to Taylor Fritz, but he won doubles again with Nedovyesov defeating Rajeev Ram/Jack Sock. The USA ended up winning the tie 2–1.

Olympics

At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Bublik made his tennis Olympics debut, where he played Russia's Daniil Medvedev in the first round and lost in straight sets.

Playing style

At , Bublik possesses a powerful serve and led the 2021 ATP Tour in the number of aces served throughout the season. His unpredictable and capricious game style on court has often caught opponents off-guard through his occasional use of the underarm serve and tendency to add trick shots in his matches. His style has drawn comparisons to that of Nick Kyrgios, who also developed a reputation for often playing in an unorthodox manner.

Bublik is also known for his irreverence to the sport and casual approach to practicing. He described his unexpected run to the 2021 French Open doubles final as a "pure accident", and explained that he did not treat doubles as professional tennis, but as a way to "make some extra money, hang around, make some jokes." In a 2020 interview with ''L'Équipe'', Bublik also stated that he lamented the sport and the financial incentives were what kept him going: "If there was no money, I would stop playing tennis instantly. I haven’t earned enough money; in any other case I would have already retired." However, in 2022, he contradicted these statements, saying for Good Morning Tennis that "over time, and it's been three years since that interview, things have changed a lot and love playing tennis now because realized that's what wanted to do as a kid".

Controversy

In the 2023 US Open, Bublik was defeated in first round by former US Open champion Dominic Thiem in straight sets. However, Bublik's lack of sportsmanship was heavily criticized by the tennis community and fans. Bublik was recorded on television uttering in Russian, "I am sick of giving careers back to disabled people", an apparent reference to Thiem's recent recovery from injuries. This was later condemned by fellow tennis player Nick Kyrgios as "horrible". Throughout the game, Bublik also received code violation after smashing his racket, he then proceeded to question his team why he kept losing, and said he no longer wanted to travel to the US Open.

Nationality change

In November 2016, Bublik changed his allegiance from that of his home country of Russia’s federation to the tennis federation of Kazakhstan in search of better financial support from the national tennis federation.
Bublik joined several other players by switching to playing for Kazakhstan, explaining:

Personal life

Bublik and his wife Tatiyana Bublik had their first child, a son, Vasily, in 2022.

In 2023, Bublik was named as a reserve member of the Levitov Chess Wizards team in the Professional Rapid Online Chess League.

Performance timelines

Singles

''Current through the 2025 French Open.''

Doubles

Grand Slam tournament finals

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Other significant finals

Asian Games

Doubles: 1 (silver medal)

ATP Tour finals

Singles: 11 (4 titles, 7 runner-ups)

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

ATP Challenger Tour finals

Singles: 8 (7 titles, 1 runner-up)

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

ITF Futures finals

Singles: 5 (4 titles, 1 runner-up)

Doubles: 6 (3 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Wins over top 10 players

*Bublik has a record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bublik, Alexander
1997 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Leningrad Oblast
Kazakhstani male tennis players
Russian male tennis players
People from Gatchina
Asian Games silver medalists for Kazakhstan
Tennis players at the 2018 Asian Games
Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games
Asian Games medalists in tennis
Olympic tennis players for Kazakhstan
Tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2024 Summer Olympics
21st-century Russian sportsmen