The Paris Masters had got underway, and Alexander Bublik is up and running after a victory over Alexei Popyrin.
Bublik came through 6-4, 6-3 and will now take on the winner of Reilly Opelka or Corentin Moutet in the next round.
It’s been a bit of a strange year for Bublik, who is extremely capable on his day, beating Jack Draper earlier this year at the French Open.
John McEnroe praised Bublik after he beat Draper and in 2025, Bublik has won four titles, with three coming in ATP 250 events and one coming in an ATP 500 event.
Yesterday’s match was marred somewhat by Bublik and Popyrin failing to shake hands at the end of the match and afterwards, he decided to clear that situation up.
Why Alexander Bublik didn’t shake hands with Alexei Popyrin
The etiquette in tennis is largely impeccable but that changed somewhat at the Paris Masters yesterday when Bublik won match point and made a quick exit.
It was the hot topic on everyone’s lips afterwards and it just didn’t feel as though the decision made by Bublik was the right one in the spirit of the game.
Bublik did, however, clear up his decision not to offer a handshake and it would appear that he wasn’t happy with how his opponent conducted himself on the court.
He told Russian publication Championat: “Well, precisely because if someone clips two net cords and doesn’t apologise, but celebrates as if he’s won something, I just don’t see anything wrong with that. I think any reasonable person would have done the same in my place, that is, if I had ever done the same.
“They can celebrate and then apologise. I’m not the kind of person to cling to that, but they apologise for it.
“There’s a code, there’s some kind of etiquette. If someone doesn’t adhere to it, why should I adhere to another?”
Bublik will want to take momentum into 2026
Although Bublik is a bit of an extrovert on the ATP Tour, it’s not common for him not to shake the hand of his opponent, and as he’s confirmed, he clearly wasn’t happy with his opponent’s conduct.
Still, Bublik got the win and he can now look forward to another match at the Paris Masters and once again, it’s one that he should be the favourite in.
Bublik has started to climb the rankings once again and another strong run in Paris could see him improve on his current 16th-place position.
Bublik has never been beyond round two of the Australian Open and he will want to improve on that when it comes to the next installment which gets underway in January.
Bublik has the talent and all of the shots to trouble the very best players and the hope in his eyes will be that he can keep pushing on and get himself among the world’s top players in the top 10.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
