ALEXANDER Bublik is hoping to pose Andy Murray some awkward questions when they meet on Centre Court this lunchtime. But then, in his own head at least, that is precisely what this brash 20-year-old from St Petersburg did back at Indian Wells in March, when he and the Scot had a close encounter for the NextGen section of the ATP website. As part of the promotional activity for the tour’s annual branded competition for the best young players, Bublik was behind the microphone, taking great play of insisting upon referring to the Scot as “Sir”.
“I got an interview with him on the Next Gen and I was calling him Sir Andy Murray,” recalled Bublik, whose protest about the lack of support she received from the Russian federation was to play under the Kazakh flag. “And he was like, ‘No, Andy is fine.’ I said: “Sir, sorry, but you’ve got to be sir.’ But when I asked, ‘Do I call you sir?’ he was like, ‘Er, not really.”
“I think he interviewed a lot of the players there, and was asking what he thought were funny questions I think to all of the players,” is Murray’s take on it. “That was his one to me. We chatted a little bit away from the camera as well. He seemed like, like he was pretty fun, a pretty confident guy really.”
Bublik and Murray have more in common than perhaps both men would acknowledge. The 20-year-old’s interests include hip hop - he has Eminem lyrics tattoed on his arm and a phalanx of Russian rappers such as Oxxxymiron in his players’ box today - basketball and boxing - he is a huge fan of UFC star Conor McGregor. Moreover, his playing style showcases a number of dropshots and some downright showboating, with one victim of his unpredictable style being France’s Lucas Pouille in the first round of the Australian Open.
“Even I don’t even know what I’m going to do,” said Bublik. “I decide when the ball is coming, right before I hit. I don’t have a plan. I serve wide then I play cross-court. I serve wide then a drop-shot or a lob, whatever. Last year I was only doing trick shots. Even if I was playing against good guys, top 100 or whatever, I wasn’t interested. I would make 100 drop shots to try to win the match. When I went on court with [Roberto] Bautista Agut in Moscow, the guy was like: ‘Stop, it can’t be real’.”
While his idol is James Blake, the general, consistent excellence of the likes of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Murray leaves him cold. “It’s interesting to see highlights, how they’re finishing the ball, but when they’re rallying for, like, 45 shots, you’re sitting there and you’re feeling: ‘Can I quit tennis please?’”
Don’t expect too many in the way of long rallies then from this lucky loser, who went down 12-10 in Daniel Brands in the final set of the final round of qualifying, only informed of the news after he had booked a flight to his next destination. Remarkably, Murray has lost his last two matches to lucky losers, in the form of Jordan Thompson at Queen’s Club and Borna Coric in Madrid.
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