Is he playing at the highest level just for the money? The controversial Bublik opens up about his love for tennis

Alexander Bublik probably needs little introduction to tennis fans. The Kazakh is a real entertainer on the circuit. But at the same time, like Australian Nick Kyrgios, he causes a lot of controversy and not everyone is a fan of his sometimes “circus stunts”.

Bublik has a lot in common with the boisterous Australian. Most notably, he has admitted in the past to playing tennis for the money. In an interview, Bublik made this statement along with the fact that he “hates tennis” and his only motivation to play it is the money he gets from it.

“I hate tennis with all my heart. To be honest, I don’t see anything positive about being a tennis player. I’m just playing for the money. If it wasn’t about the money, I would stop playing tennis immediately. But I haven’t earned enough yet,” the media quoted him as saying at the time.

Now, however, he has toned down his words considerably. Like Kyrgios, he is having a very successful season this year. He reached the 30th position in the ATP ranking and dominated his first major tournament in Montpellier. For the Italian server Ubitennis, he has now commented on his old statement.

In the interview, he reveals that in 2020, when this statement was made, he was not very passionate about tennis and did not enjoy it. His words sparked a lot of negative reactions and Bublik has realized over the years that tennis is his true passion.

“Ihave fun playing now because I realized that’s what I always wanted to do when I was a kid. As a kid, I used to stand in front of the mirror and imagine I was Nadal or Federer and I’d be in an arena with thousands of people. ”

It has to be said that Bublik sometimes enjoys tennis too much. He is still considered by many experts to be not very “professional”, often playing his serve “from underneath” or, last time in France, trying to end a game with a handle, which drew boos from the fans.

You can see the funny shot in a previous article.

Source: Ubitennis, ATP