Carlos Alcaraz’s comments at Indian Wells caused quite a reaction, but Alexander Bublik has praised the world number one.
Alcaraz and Bublik have a friendly relationship, and they were both top 10 players until Daniil Medvedev replaced the latter as the world number 10 in the rankings this week.
Medvedev ultimately beat Alcaraz to reach the Indian Wells final, but it was comments the Spaniard made after a match earlier on in the tournament that really got people talking.
After Alcaraz was forced to come from a set down against Arthur Rinderknech, he claimed that players were like Roger Federer against him.
Alexander Bublik ‘happy’ Carlos Alcaraz said players are better against him
“Well, to be honest, I just sometimes get tired about playing Roger Federer every round,” Alcaraz said in his press conference after beating Rinderknech. “Yeah, sometimes just feel like, yeah, they playing really an insane level.
“I don’t know if I’m feeling not the right way, but I feel it’s just against me all the time. If they play like, you know, that level every match, they should be higher in the ranking. But, you know, obviously is something that concern me. When I’m just playing, I think about that.
“You know, all can I do is just accept it, keep it going, trying to, like, do different things in the match, trying to, you know, try not to let him be aggressive or playing his style, trying to, you know, put my style, my tennis, my level into the match and trying to turn around the things that what I try to do. But obviously the first thing is just accept it.”
Alcaraz added, “I don’t know. I feel like I have a target on my back, and I feel like if they don’t play that kind of tennis they can’t win or it is what I think they could think.”
Who is the better hard court player – Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner?
Bublik has also made similar comments to Alcaraz in the past, and when speaking to Tennis TV he admitted that he was pleased to hear someone else on the same page as him.
“It’s good that it’s not only against me,” said Bublik. “I think I’m the only one who actually said it out loud and then I saw that Carlos said the same so I’m really happy that more people are expressing what they actually feel.
“For sure it’s not only me, I was just the only one who was actually complaining about that and so when Carlos said that it made me feel a bit better.”
Who are you backing to complete the sunshine double?
Or do you think both Sabalenka and Sinner will win the Miami Open?
Alexander Bublik continues to struggle on North American hard courts
Bublik has enjoyed a breakthrough season on the ATP Tour over the past year, winning five titles, reaching the French Open quarterfinals and subsequently making his top 10 debut.
However, one thing that Bublik is yet to conquer is the North American hard courts, which was highlighted after he suffered an early defeat to qualifier Rinky Hijikata in Indian Wells last week.
In his 42 previous matches at either the US Open or the four Masters 1000 tournaments in North America, Bublik has only won 42.9% of his matches.
Bublik achieved his best result at the US Open last year by reaching the fourth round, but he has still only won 50% of his matches at the New York.
| North American hard court tournament | Win-loss Record | Best Result |
| Indian Wells | 3-5 (37.5%) | Third Round (2022, 2024 & 2026) |
| Miami Open | 6-6 (50%) | Quarterfinal (2021) |
| Canadian Open | 1-4 (20%) | Second Round (2021) |
| Cincinnati Open | 1-2 (33.3%) | Second Round (2021) |
| US Open | 7-7 (50%) | Fourth Round (2025) |
| Overall | 18-24 (42.9%) | – |
The best result Bublik has ever produced at a North American hard court tournament came at the Miami Open in 2021, when he reached the quarterfinals.
Bublik will be hoping to repeat that in Miami this year, where he is the 10th seed.
After receiving an automatic bye to the second round, Bublik will play the winner of the match between Matteo Berrettini and Alexandre Muller.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
