Meet Alexander Bublik: Andy Murray's young first round Wimbledon opponent who thrills fans with his high-risk game

Bublik is an effervescent 20-year-old who loves playing trick shots and has Eminem lyrics tattooed down his arm — just don't ask him if he enjoys watching the 'Big Four' play

Andy Murray has never played Alexander Bublik, but the 20-year-old Kazak will not be an unfamiliar face when they meet in the opening match on Centre Court here on Monday.

Bublik, who was born in Russia but changed his national allegiance after being offered support by Kazakhstan, interviewed Murray in Indian Wells earlier this year as part of a promotion for this year’s inaugural Next Gen Finals in Milan, which will bring together eight of the world’s most talented youngsters.

“I was calling him Sir Andy Murray,” Bublik said. “He was like: ‘No, Andy is fine.’ I said: “Sir, sorry, but you’ve got to be Sir, I don’t care.’ When I asked: ‘Do I call you Sir?’ he was like” ‘Er, not really’.”

While the effervescent Bublik was regaling journalists with stories ranging from his love of rap music to how he felt bored watching Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal play, Murray was taking his latest steps back towards fitness. The world No 1, who has been dealing with a sore hip, had three more practice sessions here and looked in better shape than he had been 24 hours earlier.

Bublik, who also interviewed Federer in Indian Wells and asked (in vain) if he could play doubles with the Swiss, was unaware of Murray’s injury problems. “I’m not following tennis that much,” the world No 134 said. “Only if my friends are playing or if there’s a Next Gen player, but not the top guys. They always win. Why should we follow them?”

He added: “Even Rafa [Nadal] and Fed, when you watch the guys they’re putting everything in court and it’s not interesting. It’s interesting to see the 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?’

“But I enjoy watching Nick [Kyrgios] for example. He’s nice. I like the way he’s playing. I like Thanasi [Kokkinakis]. I like all the Next Gen guys. They’re playing ‘strange’, like hitting the ball hard, most of them.”

Bublik, who stands 6ft 4in tall but has a slender frame, has a reputation as a showboater who likes to hit spectacular shots. He said he had to do that because he was not physically strong enough to slug it out with some of his rivals.


 Bublik has a slender frame and doesn't enjoy slugging it out on court 
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“My game is unpredictable,” he said. “I don’t even know what I’m going to do. I decide when the ball is coming, I decide 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.”

Bublik thinks the best shot he ever hit was a between-the-legs “tweener” in qualifying for the recent French Open but said he was disappointed there was no video of it available.

He explained: “After the ball landed in, I was like: ‘Is there a camera?’ I wasn’t even worrying about the fact that it was 4-3 in the tie-break. I was like: ‘Cameras please!’ But I didn’t find one.”


 The youngster is fond of playing trick shots 
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Bublik, who trains in St Petersburg and Monaco, admitted that he needed to find the right balance “between making jokes and the show-offs and playing really consistent tennis”.

He added: “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 was playing Futures [tournaments] last year I felt like I was better [than the opposition], so I was doing crazy things and not winning matches. I was up 6-2, 5-2 and then I started playing left-handed, thinking: 'OK, I don't want to play with you.’

“Then when I found the balance at that level, I grew up and started playing Challengers. When I started getting the balance to win Challengers, then I started playing ATP. The next challenge is to find the balance again, because if you give up free points you are not going to win the match.”

Will there be more trick shots against Murray? “Why not?” Bublik said. “I hope it’s five sets, not three. I guess I will get some show time there.” He added: “I have nothing to lose.”

Bublik, who played in his first Grand Slam tournament at this year’s Australian Open, earned his place in the draw here as a “lucky loser” from the qualifying tournament.

Although he lost in the last round of qualifying, the withdrawal of another player opened up a place for him. He learned that he was playing against Murray in a text from his father, but did not believe him at first.


 Rap star Eminem is one of Bublik's heroes 
 (Getty)

Bublik had his first look around Centre Court today and said he would have some Russian rap stars in his player box on Monday. “One of them is Oxxxymiron, who has got two millions followers,” Bublik said. “The base of Russian rap is St Pete, near to my home town, and there is like a bar in the club and they are there and I’m hanging out with them.”

He is also a big fan of Eminem and has two quotes from the American rapper tattooed on his arms: “You won’t break me, you just make me stronger than I was” and “Always be a leader and not a follower.”

Bublik said he would leave his coach to brief him about Murray. “I don’t want to put myself under pressure,” he said. “If I watch him playing, I’m going to say: ‘OK, the guy’s not missing a ball.’ I watched him once and he didn’t miss a ball for two or three hours.”