World No. 62 Alexander Bublik shared his thoughts on his significant breakthrough at Roland Garros. Today, the player from Kazakhstan defeated world No. 5 Jack Draper with a score of 5/7, 6/3, 6/2, 6/4, marking his first time reaching the quarterfinal stage of a Grand Slam tournament.
Bublik commented, “This is one of the best days of my life and truly one of the best matches I`ve played. Sometimes you get that feeling: if you don`t seize this chance now, you might never get another. If I hadn`t managed the break and ended up losing the second set, I probably wouldn`t have had the drive to keep fighting.”
He added regarding his performance on clay this year, “I haven`t complained about the clay surface as much this season. My ranking had fallen, leaving me with no alternative but to simply play – I believe that has been the key.”
“Guys, I train adequately. Please don`t assume I spend only half an hour on court daily. I put in a lot of work, just structured on my own terms.”
“For me, tennis and the rest of my life hold equal weight – it`s a 50/50 balance in priorities. It`s not skewed 90% towards tennis with a hopeful thought about whether I`ll still be able to walk at forty.”
“Everyone, especially the younger generations coming up, needs to decide if all the effort is worth the potential, perhaps uncertain, opportunity to succeed, like breaking into the world`s Top 50 someday. If the answer is yes, then go for it wholeheartedly, but if it doesn`t pan out, there`s no need to later complain about it.”
Rupert Hartwell