Alexander Bublik is enjoying the best season of his career. The 24-year-old Kazakhstani has established himself amongst the world’s top 40, is at the summit of the aces leaderboard for 2021 and is into the third round at Wimbledon for the first time, thanks to a composed 6-4, 7-6(6), 7-6(4) win against former semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov.

He has reached two finals this season, in Antalya and Singapore, and made it to the last eight at the Masters 1000 events in Miami and Madrid.

Bublik’s 507 aces in 40 matches puts him 154 aces ahead of even Matteo Berrettini on the leaderboard.

His serve has become such a reliable weapon – he hit 34 aces against Dimitrov – you would think he has been spending hours on the practice court. In fact, Bublik says he hasn’t served more than 20 balls in any training session for the past year and a half, and that he never works on his spots nor places cones for targets.

“I’ve never done it in my life. At some point with my serve I found the rhythm and I just try to maintain the rhythm and to maintain all the little aspects of the serve so they work properly together. The serve is a complete motion and you’ve got to be always precise with what you do in order to keep the ball very clean.”

Bublik’s reasoning for his solid form this year is just as simple. His laid-back nature is not an act; the entertaining shot-maker has not wasted any time trying to analyse why he’s been more consistent in 2021. “I don’t really know to be honest. I think it’s just like a snowball, it’s just working,” he said. “I hope to stay in the moment and just be here and play some good tennis.”

Bublik has been compared to Nick Kyrgios and with good reason. They both rely on being themselves, on and off the court, they believe in showmanship and enjoyment on the court, and prefer not to conform to any tennis stereotypes or go through any unnecessary formalities.

If they want to hit an underhand serve, they will, if they want to mess around on the court at a crucial moment by opting for a tweener instead of a higher percentage shot, they will go for it. 

Kyrgios considers Bublik, who is two years his junior, to be his heir apparent.

“He's a hell of a player. The thing I love about him, obviously I see similarities with game style, but just how he carries himself. He's his own man,” Kyrgios said of the world No.38. I know for a fact he doesn't take **** from anyone."

“He's pretty creative, man. I feel like I'm an old soul on tour. It's good to see another guy like that kind of take my place when I do eventually go. All the tennis world will be like, ‘Thank God Kyrgios is gone’, you're going to have to deal with Bublik now. That's just the way it's going to be.”

That is quite an apt assessment. Bublik, who next takes on Polish No.14 seed Hubert Hurkacz, is happy to discuss any topic at any time. He says he prefers to be open with the press, even if he’s quizzed about personal details, and is unfazed by what anyone else thinks.

“The tennis you see on the court that I produce, and off the court interviews, I’m just trying to be myself,” Bublik said.

Sometimes his brutal honesty can take you by surprise, just like his tweeners and underhand serves. Bublik made the doubles final of Roland-Garros alongside his compatriot Andrey Golubev – they are also teaming up for the Olympics in Tokyo – but he described their runner-up showing as a “pure accident”.

Asked if reaching a Grand Slam final in doubles provided any sort of boost for his tennis in general, Bublik responded with a resounding ‘No’.

“I got zero boost and that’s true. I don't care about doubles; I was playing for fun,” he admits. “That was a pure accident that we made the finals. Before the tournament I told Golubev that we've got to finish quick because I have a train to Stuttgart. No joke, I had tickets to Stuttgart on the third round. And then out of nowhere we made finals.”

Whether he takes it seriously or not, Bublik has a legitimate chance at a medal in Tokyo with Golubev. And this Fortnight, if he keeps serving 30-plus aces per match, the quirky Kazakhstani can become a serious threat at Wimbledon. If he doesn’t, he will still walk away a happy man.

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