Alexander Bublik calls the retirements of Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray “a circus” in bold comments

Alexander Bublik spoke about the retirements of Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray and didn’t look favorably on their farewells. The Kazakh player specifically pointed out the 3-time Grand Slam champion from Britain, who was recently announced as Novak Djokovic's coach for the 2025 season.

The World No. 33, true to his style, described the retirements of both players as a "circus" when asked whether he was willing to fight through injuries to extend his career when the time comes.

"One wants to leave at their peak"

The 27-year-old player mentioned that he changed his plans of retiring early and would be happy to play for another decade. "Everything I said before turned out to be too expressive and false. I always thought I would retire, but now it seems like I’ll play for many more years. I want to act for a long time."

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Bublik addressed the retirements of Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray in 2024. The Spaniard, at 38, struggled to return to competition and have a proper farewell on court, while Murray also battled injuries for several years—without achieving the same results he once did—and ended up hanging up his racket mid-year.

“One wants to leave at their peak. Clearly, I’m not Rafa, my legacy will be much smaller, if you can call it that. What happened with Andy Murray and Rafa is a circus. I can’t call it any other way,” Bublik said in an interview with Russian media outlet “Match TV.”

“These people achieved everything, even we tennis players looked at them with open mouths in the locker room, and then you see one of them bald and old. It’s clear that he’s not the same and will never be the same. In my opinion, it’s even a disgrace rather than a circus. I guess that’s the right way to put it.”

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“Now he (Murray) has joined Novak Djokovic’s team. These are attempts to grasp what is no longer there, some echoes of the past. I think it’s a problem. I hope it won’t be like that for me, but I can’t say for sure. Maybe at 36, I’ll be playing in the Challenger in Bangkok, but I still hope that I’ll leave with a calm soul.”

Bublik is preparing to compete in his first tournament of the season at the Adelaide International, where he is the 6th seed. His debut will be against Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, in what will be his only stop before the Australian Open. The Kazakh came just one spot short of being seeded in Melbourne but ultimately made the cut at No. 33.

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