PARIS – When Alexander Bublik was two years old, his father decided his future. In the late 1990s, he handed him a small tennis racket, and from that moment on, there was no other choice.
Becoming a tennis player was the only path. A life he struggled with for much of his career. “I never had a choice. My father told me to play, so I played,” Bublik told CLAY in a revealing interview in 2022, just days before the birth of his son Vasily.
“The question if I wanted or not it was never raised. That’s just how it was in my family. My mother supported my father. I think it’s a great attitude. If you want your children to be good at something, you have to take care of them, you have to tell them what to do,” said Bublik, who at the time insisted he did not want his son to become a tennis player.
Although he hates traveling, maturity has given the soon-to-be 28-year-old tennis player a new perspective on the sport. His relationship with clay has also changed—a surface he used to openly dislike. Fatherhood has played a big role in those changes.
“I simply don’t like it (clay), but these days I don’t mind. I enjoy playing anywhere. If it’s clay, it’s clay. I’ve changed my approach to many things since my son was born. After all, it’s my job and I have to do it well,” he told CLAY three years ago.
Ironically, he is now living the “best moment” of his life at the French Open. That’s what he said after reaching the quarterfinals, when he was interviewed on court by Alex Corretja, his face and body covered in clay. He had never smiled so much while being covered in orange dust.
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Monfils’ advice: “You’ll have your chance”
A conversation with Frenchman Gael Monfils in Dubai earlier this year was another moment that changed Bublik’s course.
He mentioned it to CLAY during one of his press conferences at Roland Garros: “I was complaining because I had been on a losing streak, and what Gael told me changed my perspective—I stopped complaining.”
“I said, ‘Gael, it used to be so easy. Now everyone plays so well.’ And he shared something really wise with me: ‘Alex, now everyone is super professional. They wake up early, go for runs, get treatment, everything is so calculated.’”
Bublik remembers that when he joined the tour, only a few players were truly focused: “Several guys in the top 50 or top 100 took it more casually. Not everyone traveled with physios. Now everyone is structured, and that’s kind of concerning. I think we should leave more room for fun.”
“Gael told me to wait for my chance: ‘You have your opportunities. You take them. If you waste them, it’s your problem.’”
The Kazakh will face world No. 1 Jannik Sinner this Wednesday on Court Philippe Chatrier. The winner will earn a place in the Roland Garros semifinals—a completely unthinkable scenario not long ago for Bublik, who once seemed allergic to clay.
