“Novak doesn’t see me as a competitor”: Alexander Bublik laughs as he recounts Djokovic’s unexpected guidance

Alexander Bublik shared a unique anecdote about advice he received from Novak Djokovic, and how one of the Serb's direct competitors tried to find out what that advice was. The Kazakh—currently World No. 11—stated with a smile that: "Novak doesn't see me as a competitor; I'm not a threat."

The story goes back to the beginning of the 2024 clay-court swing, where Bublik was installed in the Top 20 after a title at the Open Sud de France and a final at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. After the Sunshine Double, Bublik arrived at the Monte-Carlo Masters with high aspirations of continuing to advance in the ATP rankings.

“I'll tell you a story. It turns out that it was 2024, and I made it into the Top 20. I think I was 19th, and I wanted to go higher,” Bublik commented in an interview with the Russian YouTube channel First&Red. “I had a chance—I think the maximum I had reached was 17th. I had a chance; I needed to earn, I think, about 250 points or something like that to become 17th.”

“And I had problems. I was playing with a natural gut string, which is made from bull tendons. In general, it's a natural string that reacts to everything—to absolutely everything: heat, cold... it's a nightmare.”

“I was sitting in Monte-Carlo. I lost in the first round—a terrible defeat. And Novak is sitting there, and Novak is a genius in all of this. I say, 'Novak, listen'—and I can ask this because I am not his competitor,” the 28-year-old Kazakh assured. “I say, 'Listen, what about the strings?' And he says... well, he started telling me in detail what needs to be done: 'You try this tension, that tension, on the practice court, this is how it will feel for you...' In general, he went into all the fine points.”

Bublik recalled that another colleague on the Tour quickly approached him to ask about the advice that "Nole" (Djokovic) had given him minutes earlier. However, Bublik had his reservations about sharing the tips, considering that this player was a direct competitor for Djokovic.

“I won't name the person, but a player of his level came up to me and asked, 'What did he tell you?' And I said, 'You know, I understand that it’s probably somehow unethical...' And he said right there, 'What did he tell you?' And I'm like, 'Well... he told me this,' and he says, 'What else? What else?'”

“Because of me, Novak doesn't see me as a competitor; I'm not a threat. But he would never say this to this other person, because he is his direct competitor.”

Starting with the 2024 clay-court swing, Bublik's results began to decline, ending the year at World No. 33, quite far from his ambitions. However, things didn't improve in early 2025, and during the first months of the year, his ranking continued to fall progressively as he failed to defend the points from the previous year. Nevertheless, a turning point arrived around the middle of the year, and coincidentally, during the clay-court swing.

Bublik first had a great performance at the Madrid Open, reaching the Round of 16, and two weeks later, he won the Turin Challenger—a tournament he had attended in search of points at a time when he was outside the Top 80.

From there, things improved for the Kazakh, who achieved the best season of his career. He secured four titles (one ATP 500 and three ATP 250s), reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinals at Roland Garros, and his first Masters 1000 semifinal at the Paris Masters.

He totaled six victories against Top 10 players, including a win against World No. 1 Jannik Sinner on his way to the title at the Halle Open, becoming one of only three men to defeat the Italian during that year. He will start 2025 as World No. 11 with serious options of entering the Top 10, considering he is not defending many points during the first months of the year—unlike most members of the Top 10.