Alexander Bublik is known for speaking his mind, for better or worse. The Kazakh tennis star has been on the rise again this year, lifting four titles and reaching a career-high ranking of No. 16 in the world. But he believes that he and his rivals “failed” at the recent Shanghai Masters.
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner were forced to withdraw from the tournament due to physical problems, and then-world No. 204 Valentin Vacherot went on to become the lowest-ranked champion in Masters 1000 history in their absence.
The Monegasque ace came through qualifying and then beat five players ranked in the world’s top 35 – including Novak Djokovic – on his way to the final. In the championship match, he faced his own cousin, Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, who had also caused plenty of upsets in the draw.
Bublik was one of Vacherot’s victims, losing to the qualifier in the second round. And he believes that Vacherot’s triumph shows that all of the top players ranked below Alcaraz and Sinner simply failed to step up.
“I guess, if he’s able to win a Masters then it’s our fault. All of us,” the world No. 16 told ATP Media.
“We failed, we didn’t get ready enough for the Masters. He cracked, I don’t know how many top 20 players and two top 10. He won a Masters. And on the other side [of the draw] is Arthur, killing everyone.”
There was plenty of opportunity in the Shanghai Masters draw. Alcaraz pulled out before the tournament started, having picked up an ankle injury at the Japan Open a few days earlier.
Sinner and Djokovic were together in the bottom half of the draw, and defending champion Sinner was forced to retire from his third-round match against Tallon Griekspoor after suffering severe cramps and struggling to walk.
Other former Masters champions, like Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev, lost to Rinderknech. And Bublik thought it came as a wake-up call.
He added: “So I guess that’s the question. Why are we in Shanghai at the end of the season – half of us have won a lot of titles, half of us maybe won a couple of Slams or Masters – and we’re not able to stop those two guys?
“That’s the question to us, I guess. The level once Carlos and Jannik are not there… This is what’s happening.”
After suffering an early exit in Shanghai, Bublik is hoping to bounce back at this week’s Vienna Open, where he’s through to the last 16. Meanwhile, Vacherot was given a wildcard into the ATP 500 event in Basel.
He received a brutal draw, facing world No. 4 Taylor Fritz in the opening round, and suffered a close 4-6 7-6(4) 7-5 defeat on Wednesday.