Kazakhstan tennis ace Alexander Bublik won the hearts of tennis fans with his gesture during his first-round match at the Monte Carlo Masters. As the 16th seed opened his campaign against Borna Coric, Bublik asked a ball girl to try her hands at serving midway through the match.
Bublik swapped places with the ball kid and encouraged her to give it a try while his opponent waited at the other end. Although the ball girl was hesitant at first, the Kazakh ATP star pushed her to go ahead as he was seen mouthing, “Go, go!”.
Alexander Bublik asks ball girl to try her hands at the game during Monte Carlo Masters (Image via Imago)
The incident took place during the second set when Bublik promptly asked the ball kid if they wanted to play. As the girl nodded in affirmation, Bublik handed his racket and swapped places. He also threw balls at her as the ball girl tried serving. Although she went back with a double fault, the crowd cheered for the kid.
The video of the incident was shared by the official broadcasters on social media.
Alexander Bublik’s gesture leaves fans divided on social media
This gesture from Alexander Bublik quickly caught the attention of fans on social media. While some found no problems and even hailed the player for his beautiful gesture, a section of fans felt it was unnecessary.
They questioned Bublik over his seriousness towards the game. Check out different sets of reactions to Alexander Bublik’s gesture towards the ball girl.
Talking about the match, Bublik was defeated in straight sets of 1-6 1-6 in 64 minutes. With this, it was another early exit for Bublik in Monte Carlo Masters, as he has only won one match in his four appearances at the tournament, reaching the second round in 2022.
In the 2024 season, Bublik has won one title (Montpellier), made one final (Dubai), one semifinal (Adelaide), and one quarterfinal (Doha). In the last three tournaments, the Kazakh star has suffered early exits though.
