"We try to get close, but eventually one of those guys is probably going to win": Alexander Bublik gives honest take on challenging Alcaraz and Sinner

Alexander Bublik has never done things the conventional way, and even now — as a newly minted top-10 player — that hasn’t changed.

Calling in from Astana, where temperatures were sitting at minus 30 degrees ahead of Kazakhstan’s Davis Cup tie with Monaco, Bublik joined John Isner and Sam Querrey on the Nothing Major podcast to talk about the upcoming MGM Slam in Las Vegas, his rise into the world’s top 10, and the off-court moments that helped reshape his season.

“I’m calling you from a cold Astana,” Bublik said. “Minus 30 right now, and we’re facing Monaco in Davis Cup in a couple of days.”

The MGM Slam, presented by Capital One, takes place on March 1 in Las Vegas as a one-night exhibition featuring eight players competing for a $1 million prize pool. For Bublik, it represents a return to a city that played a surprisingly important role in his 2024 campaign.

“It’s going to be really exciting for me to go back to Vegas after my last trip, which in a way changed my season,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to that. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the arena, and I’m really excited to face Nick in the first match.”

That opening match will see Bublik take on Nick Kyrgios, with a potential meeting against Lorenzo Musetti or Casper Ruud awaiting the winner. On the opposite side of the draw sit Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul — two players Bublik believes are especially dangerous in the MGM Slam’s short, tiebreak-to-10 format.

“Taylor is always locked in,” Bublik said. “I’ve seen him at other events — no fun, just hitting winners, not even smiling. He’s going to be dangerous.”

“Tommy Paul is very sly,” he added. “He’s not easy to beat in a short format. I liked it when we played five sets at the US Open — this is different.”

As for Kyrgios, Bublik knows exactly what he’s walking into. “Nick is dangerous too,” he said. “Short format, he can keep up his body for 20 minutes, and you never know — he’s going to land a couple of serves. When Nick is healthy, Nick is Nick. We all know what he’s capable of.”

While Bublik has built a reputation as one of tennis’s great entertainers — famous for underarm serves, trick shots and an irreverent on-court presence — he believes exhibition events like the MGM Slam are the perfect place to balance fun with competition.

“I try to hit winners with a smile,” he said. “That’s how we try to balance it out. I love exhibition events. I like to be a bit away from classical tennis, with all this pressure and importance every weekend. For me, it’s really fun.”

The tiebreak-to-10 format, at least, gives him a little breathing room.

“So we have some room,” Bublik laughed. “I like it.”

Bublik’s excitement about returning to Las Vegas isn’t just about tennis. A spontaneous road trip there after Indian Wells last year became a turning point in his season — though not in the way some might expect. “Not at all,” he said when asked about rumours of a Hangover-style trip. “First of all, I’m deeply married, and I was with my wife. My coach was with me too, so it wasn’t really that.”

Instead, the trip offered something Bublik hadn’t realised he needed: a change of rhythm. “We drove from Indian Wells to Las Vegas and actually got lost in the middle of Nevada,” he recalled. “We checked into the Bellagio — of course. That’s what you do after watching all those American movies as a kid.”

There were fancy dinners, a bit of casino gambling, and plenty of wandering around the Strip, but the most memorable moment came later, on the drive to Phoenix. “I forgot the rental car was half electric, half gas — and we ran out of both,” Bublik said. “Literally 20 metres in front of a gas station.”

Out walked a man who looked like he’d stepped straight out of a film. “A cowboy in a hat and boots, with the thickest accent,” Bublik said. “He goes, ‘You need any help, guys?’ We had to push the car.”

The experience left an impression — especially on Bublik’s wife, who was visiting America for the first time. “She asked me, ‘Sasha, is that normal here?’” he said. “I’m like, ‘I don’t know, we’re in the middle of nowhere.’ But yeah, it was fun. That’s what’s great about America — you’re always going to get a helping hand.”

Bublik’s season truly took off soon after, with a title in Hong Kong propelling him into the world’s top 10 for the first time. Yet the moment itself brought unexpected emotions. “When I became top 10, I felt numb,” he admitted. “I was like, ‘Okay, I did it. What’s next?’”

Timing played a role. Achieving the milestone in January, rather than at the end of a season, left no room to relax. “If it was October, I’d say, ‘Great season, let’s wrap it up,’” he said. “But it was the first week of the year. I still had Australian Open and maybe 25 events to play.”

Rather than celebrate, Bublik immediately turned to goal-setting. “The first thing I told my team was, ‘Okay, congrats — what are the goals now?’” he said. “We needed to reset.”

With few ranking points to defend until Roland-Garros, the objective is simple. “Why not try to climb as high as possible?” Bublik said. “If it doesn’t work, it’s okay — I already made the main goal. For now, it’s just about winning matches and playing solid.”

Asked about the current landscape of men’s tennis, particularly the dominance of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, Bublik was refreshingly honest.

“I don’t hear anyone talking about winning Slams,” he said. “The aura in the locker room is more like: we try to get close, but eventually one of those guys is probably going to win.”

Still, he acknowledged that chaos could emerge if the door ever opened. “If both Alcaraz and Sinner were out early, that would be a mess,” he said. “Imagine Wimbledon with both of them out and we’re all in the quarter-finals. That would be nuts. Everyone would feel extra pressure.”

To close the conversation, Isner and Querrey asked Bublik to make his Vegas draft — three players from the MGM Slam he’d choose for a night out, with no tennis involved.

The answers came quickly. “Tommy Paul,” Bublik said. “We’ve known each other a long time — that would be a good party.”

“Nick (Kyrgios) obviously,” he added. “You don’t go anywhere without Nick. And the third would be Lorenzo Musetti.”