“You cannot be hated more than in Bercy”: Alexander Bublik compares toughest French crowd to Aussie fans

Alexander Bublik was defeated in the fourth round of the Australian Open by local No. 1 Alex de Minaur, in what was the first clash between two top-10 players of the men’s tournament this year. The Kazakh, who debuted among the top 10, reflected on the difficulties of facing a player with the home crowd on their side.

The 28-year-old player, however, assured that the crowd in Melbourne “are easy” and compared his experience with other instances where he has faced hostile audiences. The notoriously challenging French crowd at Roland Garros was mentioned, although Bublik said another French event is even tougher.

“You guys are easy,” Bublik commented in press conference regarding the Aussie crowd. “I honestly haven’t felt like I was hated. You should play the French Open in Bercy. There, there’s nothing like it. You cannot be hated more than in Bercy—not Roland-Garros, but Bercy. France was fine, but Bercy was tough with the old stadium.”

He even mentioned his experience playing Davis Cup in South America: “Even the Davis Cup against Chile was intense,” he added, referring to his 2023 trip, facing Nicolás Jarry and Cristian Garin. “But here, you guys are totally fine. I was expecting more negative energy, like at the French Open: hit a first serve out and the whole stadium goes on their feet, cheering you to double fault.”

Bublik thanked the crowd for their support throughout the week and even during his match against de Minaur, in which the Australian secured the victory in straight sets. “Today was an absolutely great crowd—I enjoyed it. I haven’t felt like I was hated. It was really nice, a great experience.”

It was the sixth encounter between de Minaur and Bublik, four of them since 2024. Bublik reflected on how de Minaur has gained an edge in their matchups. The world No. 6 had won the first three encounters, while Bublik responded in the two clashes of 2025. This time, de Minaur took revenge, improving the head-to-head to 4-2.

“I guess next level for someone like Alex would be nearly a Grand Slam winner. We’ll see that with the results at the Australian Open and further Slams,” the Aussie player mentioned. “I think he played a great match today. Conditions were not really fitting me. I played all my matches on Margaret; it was quite fast out there."

"Today, on Rod Laver, it was quite a bit slower. That was my fault—I didn’t adjust to the conditions as fast as I usually would. But that’s tennis. He played a great match and deserved to win. Definitely, he was the better player today. I’m just going to take everything I can from this match to grow and get back to the stage stronger.”

Bublik insisted that the conditions were especially difficult because he faced slow courts, something reflected in his on-court comments to his team. “It’s one of the slowest courts I’ve played on, alongside Indian Wells. But it’s not an excuse—just a fact. I wasn’t adjusting quickly enough. I should have adjusted more.”

“I had a game plan for a slow court, but I haven’t hit on Rod Laver before; I only played the one-point Slam there. It was good preparation. I usually hit on Margaret or Ken, so I assumed the conditions would be similar. That was probably my fault for not checking more thoroughly. But that’s the outcome. Life goes on—I just try to get better next time.”

The triumph was emphatic for de Minaur, 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. The match was close during the first set, remaining level until 4-4. From there, de Minaur won 14 of the next 16 games, winning 77% of service points and 51% of return points.

“The scoreline really shows how tough it was. I think I served well, especially in the second and third sets—over 70%, winning seven or ten points,” Bublik commented regarding the constant breaks from de Minaur. “But it was all one-sided, unfortunately. It’s not what I wanted or was preparing for, but that’s tennis. That’s how results come. I was winning all my matches before today and only lost one set. Today, I lost three in a row. Now it’s time to recover, reset my mind, take a couple of days off, and get back on track.”

Despite de Minaur’s commanding win, Bublik noted that the Australian remains cautious after his first tournament as a top-10 player and looks forward to maintaining the level that brought him into the elite group for the first time in his career.

“We’ll see. It’s tennis. A couple of days ago, I won three sets; today I lost. You just keep working, hoping to win matches, play well, and show good tennis. That’s what’s important.”