On Friday afternoon Alexander Bublik was heading to Starbucks, trying to forget about Wimbledon. Still smarting from his defeat in five sets to Daniel Brands in the final round of qualifying, the 20-year-old was searching for flights to Italy. Then a message popped up on his phone.
“My father texted me: You’re playing Andy Murray, first round,” he said. “I saw the text and thought, of course not, what are you talking about. Then I checked the draw, and I dropped my phone – no way, this can’t be real! I was jumping around like a dope, saying it’s a joke.”
No joke, Alex. With Pablo Cuevas ruled out of The Championships by a knee injury, a 17th place opened up for the qualifiers, with the last spot to be chosen at random between the four top-ranked players to lose in the final round at Roehampton. Bublik, the fourth of the four, was drawn to be this year’s lucky loser – and when the qualifiers were placed in the draw, his name landed alongside that of the defending champion.
The Kazakh’s only previous experience of The Championships came as a junior two years ago, when he lost in the first round. On Monday, he and Murray will be the first players to set foot on Centre Court in 2017.
“In my life, I’ve never got a lucky loser spot – never,” Bublik said, wearing a smile that hasn’t been far from his face these past 24 hours. “Even in juniors, I was never once a lucky loser. Now I’m playing Wimbledon for the first time, and playing the defending champion on Centre Court. It’s huge.”
It sounds like the sort of assignment that might overwhelm most Wimbledon debutants, but Bublik, already a popular, wise-cracking member of the men’s locker room in his first full season on tour, seems unlikely to be fazed. He has two Wawrinka-style quote tattoos either side of a map of his home town of St Petersburg on his right forearm – the first says, ‘You won’t break me, just make me stronger’; the second: ‘Always be a leader, not a follower’.
Shortly before speaking to wimbledon.com, he stopped to say hello to Australia’s John Millman, who gave him a hard time for his last-minute request for a practice session. “This guy was texting around looking for a hitting partner, at what time?” Millman asked him.
“At 9am,” Bublik replied. “I’m still looking for a doubles partner, too.”
Even when I got here for juniors two years ago, I remember thinking, that’s what tennis was like 100 years ago. I’m very excited to play, especially to open up on Centre Court
Such is life for a young player on the verge of breaking free of the Challenger circuit and joining the polished ranks of the ATP tour. It’s already been a fine season for Bublik, who beat world No.16 Lucas Pouille on his Australian Open debut, also as a qualifier, before claiming his first Challenger title in Mexico in February. He reached a career-high ranking of No.128 just two weeks ago.
Nevertheless, as emotional roller coasters go, Bublik’s last few days take some beating. He can’t remember crying because of a tennis match before, but after his defeat in the final round of qualifying at Roehampton – 12-10 in the fifth set – the tears came. “It was the first time in my life, probably,” he said. “I was so down mentally, having played for four hours, but my opponent was playing unbelievable.”
Within a day, he was making plans for accommodation in south-west London, sorting out his Wimbledon whites and taking a quick tour of Centre Court, two days before he makes his Championships debut there.
“Wimbledon feels special,” Bublik said. “Even when I got here for juniors two years ago, I remember thinking, that’s what tennis was like 100 years ago. I’m very excited to play, especially to open up on Centre Court.”
Those looking for omens, brace yourself: the last player to emerge from qualifying to play the defending champion in the first round was Ivo Karlovic, who stunned Lleyton Hewitt on Centre Court in 2003.
Not that Bublik needs any such encouragement. The ATP NextGen star’s stock is on the rise, and with a fast court beneath his feet, he fears nobody.
“This week last year, I lost in the first round of a $10,000 ITF Futures event in Turkey,” Bublik recalls. “But I’ve worked hard. The season started pretty well in Australia. By March, after Indian Wells and Miami, I felt tired – I still need to work on my physical development, because I’m not playing constantly at the moment.
“Now I’m back into the rhythm and I’m getting better, especially now we’re back on the fast surfaces. On clay courts, with my serve, I’m not very well prepared yet. But grass courts are my courts. I think I can give a great battle to Andy.”
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