Alexander Bublik turned heads when he handed his racket to a ball kid and told her to “play” in his place during his first-round match at the Monte-Carlo Masters. The 16th seed went on to lose heavily to Borna Coric 6-1 6-1, continuing his poor run at the clay-court tournament.
Bublik interrupted his own match to swap places with a ball girl on Sunday in scenes usually familiar at exhibition events. The 26-year-old dropped the first set to Coric and was trailing 0-1 15-30 in the second when he approached the ball kid as she prepared to give him more balls to serve.
“You want to play?” he asked, gesturing her forward and taking her place at the back of the court. The girl was hesitant but Bublik walked her forward, adding: “Go, go, go.” The world No. 18 assumed her role and handed her some balls.
With the crowd in her corner, the ball girl hit a double fault and swapped back with Bublik, high-fiving him. The Kazakh managed to hold serve but it was the only game he won for the rest of the match, with Coric going on to seal the victory in just 64 minutes.
It’s another early exit for Bublik in Monte Carlo, as he has only won one match in his four appearances at the tournament, reaching the second round in 2022. But he still gave the crowd and the ball girl a memorable moment from his brief outing at the tournament this year.
While the spectators on Court Rainier III got behind the ball kid, the gesture divided other tennis fans with some claiming that he was treating the match like an exhibition. @giusaysjazdaaa tweeted: “he cant be serious and respect the game for once right?”
