Alexander Bublik, the current world no. 32 in a recent interview with Championat claimed that a few players are purposely using the medical timeout to break the rhythms of opponents and for other strategic reasons as well. The opinion of Kazakhstani, however, didn’t mention any names.

Bublik came into the limelight a few months back when he made a significant jump in the Pepperstone ATP World rankings. Why, you ask? Well, Bublik overcame the likes of Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, and Andrey Rublev to win the Halle Open, an ATP 500 tournament.

As a result, he jumped several spots to be classified in the Top 25 Men’s Singles players. Bublik is currently ranked no.1 in his country, Kazakhstan. The Russian-born tennis star changed his nationality in 2016, disappointed by the lack of appreciation in Russia.

In his recent interview, Bublik talked about a lot of tennis-related topics, one of them being the issue of strategic medical timeouts. In response to it, he said

“Tennis is a brutal game, because sometimes players put it on the line but still don’t get the results they want. Unfortunately, some use subtle, underhand tactics to break their opponents’ rhythms.”

In the same interview, he elaborated on his opinion and said that more and more stars are becoming accustomed to it. And that, they take great pride in doing so. He also goes on to rant about the social norms of tennis and how some actions are deemed evil while others get the pass of being virtuous.

Bublik was quoted as follows :

“When someone takes treatment, it’s such a strategic break to knock a person out without knocking yourself out. Now tennis players are proud of it – they call it a mind game. When you break the racket, you are bad, and when you intentionally interfere with your opponent, knocking him out of rhythm, you are good. I am talking about two specific players.“

While many players have been accused earlier of taking a strategic medical timeout, guessing the two Bublik mentions is particularly difficult. One name that pops out of the rest, however, is the World No. 1, Novak Djokovic.

Medical Timeout for Novak Djokovic as Carlos Alcaraz gets into better rhythm in 2nd set pic.twitter.com/OJXGzbMcTk

— Llama 𝕊𝕒𝕪𝕤 ☄🌠🚀 (@tennis_lol) June 9, 2023

Novak was spotted taking a similar timeout in the Cincinnati Open. He was up against Carlos Alcaraz and took a timeout due to heat. However, many fans speculate that it wasn’t solely due to heat. He had lost the point break and wanted to break the momentum of Carlos.

“McEnroe thinks that the World team is America, Canada, Australia, and South America” – Alexander Bublik slams John McEnroe for favoritism in selecting the Rest of the World team

Alexander Bublik has laid claim that the Rest of the World captain, John McEnroe doesn’t accept everyone to his team.

Alexander Bublik had somewhat of a breakout year in 2023. He won his first ATP 500 title and made the top 25 in world rankings. However, it wasn’t enough as he was excluded from the Rest of the World team captained by John McEnroe. Bublik isn’t happy with this decision.

In a recent interview, he worded his thoughts on the team selection criteria and questioned its fairness. He was quoted as

“It’s quite a complicated story. But John McEnroe seems to think that the World team is America, Canada, Australia, and South America. Which may well be the case. At that time, Diego Schwartzman seemed to be No. 10 in the world – it was impossible not to take him. I have expressed a desire, I would like to play and I love team events. But for some reason, I am sure that “the world” is everyone who speaks English.”

Bublik’s dig at McEnroe isn’t misguided. McEnroe is the captain of the Rest of the World team and is responsible for the selection process of three players on the team. The other three qualify directly through the ATP rankings.

🌍😳🇰🇿 Alexander Bublik says he would like to play the Laver Cup, but that Team World isn’t truly representative of all countries outside of Europe:

“It seems that John McEnroe thinks that the World team is America, Canada, Australia and South America.

Diego Schwarzman at the… pic.twitter.com/cOpcBKTRah

— Olly 🎾🇬🇧 (@Olly_Tennis_) December 18, 2023