Alexander Bublik shut down a reporter for drawing parallels between him and Carlos Alcaraz during an uncomfortable exchange at the Paris Masters.
The Kazakh advanced to the quarter-finals following an impressive win over Taylor Fritz on Thursday, and now faces a challenging matchup against Alex de Minaur for a place in the semi-finals.
Following his triumph over Fritz, Bublik participated in a Tennis Channel interview where he firmly rejected any comparison to Alcaraz, after the Spaniard was stunned in his first round match.
When the journalist implied his shot-making resembled that of the Spanish star, Bublik quickly dismissed the notion, insisting the reporter should not ‘disrespect’ Alcaraz by drawing such parallels.
“First of all, you cannot compare me to Carlos in any matter,” said Bublik. “Let’s put it like this, I don’t disrespect Carlos, okay? I like Carlos since he was 16 years old, playing on a side court in Australia. Don’t disrespect him that way.
“No, obviously, I became better in choosing my shots. Yes, because otherwise I would not be winning matches that often and keep consistency throughout, you know, its the end of the season. I hope to continue this way.”
Bublik also offered his thoughts on defeating Fritz, noting the American may not have been fully focused considering his ATP Finals qualification is already secured.
“We are in different positions now, he’s going to Turin, I’m still fighting maybe to be an alternate, so maybe the mindset changed a bit,” he added. “I’m not saying 100 per cent, but he was not as clutch as he usually is, so I had a bit of freedom, which he took from me in the past three meetings, when he actually killed me all the time.”
Earlier in the tournament, Bublik found himself embroiled in a heated dispute with Corentin Moutet following his second-round victory over the Frenchman.
Prior to their clash in the French capital, Moutet had stated his intention to ‘send Bublik home’. Following his win, Bublik scrawled on the camera lens: “On the way home.”
Reflecting on the match afterward, Bublik remarked: “Obviously he spoke too much before the match, you know, he spoke too much, and I just have to punish him, so I had no other option.
“He said that he will do everything to send me home, so it’s nice that he lives in Paris and it’s not too far with a taxi, you know?”.
