Andy Roddick claims Alexander Bublik did something that ‘no one would have thought’ he would before winning Halle Open

Bublik was lauded by tennis fans following his 6-3 7-6 victory over Daniil Medvedev in Germany, with the Russian even joking in his runners-up speech that he hoped Bublik would not be in his part of the draw.

Former US Open champion Andy Roddick has spoken about Bublik’s recent success, highlighting a surprise revelation that has sparked Bublik’s recent success.

Andy Roddick says no one foresaw Alexander Bublik’s clay court form

Speaking on the Tennis Channel Live Podcast with Coco Vandeweghen and Steve Weissman, Roddick said: “I don’t know, if you could teach someone how to create and bottle confidence, we’d all be a lot richer Steve [Weissman].

“But you know, I think for him, this jumpstart – you don’t know when your career is going to get restarted, jumpstarted.

“No one would have thought ‘oh Bublik’s year is gonna really get sent off on clay.’ [Then] Winning a challenger and then a quarter [final] at Roland Garros.”

Bublik, who had long been considered a grass court specialist, had an outstanding clay court swing. The 27-year-old beat Jack Draper in the French Open fourth round, before losing to Jannik Sinner.

Before this year, Bublik’s best performance at the French Open was the third round in 2017. From 2018 to 2024, he never made it past the second round.

Roddick continued: “I think we’re a lot less worried once he gets onto a fast surface. A lot of his career titles have come indoors and on the grass.

“But listen, he has all the shots and especially on a quick court. I know we’re giving a lot of credit to the clay but his ability to be decisive inside of his own game this week – a lot of times you’d see him with shots from the baseline where he knew he was going in before he even had struck the ball.

“On the other side of that, if you know someone is being decisive, you’re constantly a little bit on edge.

“I remember playing a guy like Radek Stepanek. All of a sudden you’d look up and he was at the net and you had to account for that constantly.

“Bublik’s doing the same thing except he kind of hits the ball bigger and now if he’s there mentally and competing mentally and you don’t look across and say this guy is constantly five minutes from being defeated mentally, makes it a lot tougher.”

Alexander Bublik breaks duck against Daniil Medvedev

Before Sunday’s victory against Daniil Medvedev, Bublik had lost all six of their previous ATP Tour encounters and another match at the lower echelons of tennis.

The pair first met in Kazan in 2016, with Medvedev winning 6-2 7-6. Since that date, Medvedev had recorded victories over Bublik at St Petersburg, Roland Garros, the Tokyo Olympics, Canada, Dubai and Madrid.

Bublik will be looking to register a strong campaign at this year’s Wimbledon Championships, with some fans saying Bublik is a possible contender for the title. The Kazakh lost in the third round to Tommy Paul in 2024.