Alexander Bublik teases Casper Ruud with fake underarm serve at Italian Open 2023

Alexander Bublik playfully taunted Casper Ruud with a fake underarm serve at the Italian Open in Rome on Sunday, May 14. The cheeky move had the audience in stitches before Bublik executed the shot.

Ruud competed against Bublik in the third round of the Italian Open. After a hard-fought match, the 24-year-old triumphed 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(0), securing his place in the fourth round.

Bublik got the opportunity to showcase his many unconventional shots in the match against Ruud. As the Russian-born Kazakh prepared to serve, he made a gesture indicating that he would play an underarm serve. He then smiled and quickly changed his mind and put his hands up in an apologetic gesture towards Ruud.

However, Bublik wasn't done yet with his antics. He got ready to serve again and this time, he played a fake underarm shot. Ruud was ready for it and returned the shot to Bublik, who was unable to get his racquet to it. This saw the crowd go wild, with Ruud also having a smile on his face.

A video of that moment has been doing the rounds on social media and you can watch it below:

Italian Open is one of Ruud's most successful events. He has reached the semifinals of the tournament in his last two appearances in Rome.

“It’s been a very good tournament for me in my career. I’ve reached the semis here twice and twice I lost to Novak in the semi-finals, so it sort of shows that I’ve been beating a lot of good players up until facing one of the best ever,” he said in his on-court interview.

“I have a lot of good memories from here and the Italian fans are incredible, even though today they were maybe cheering even more for Bublik. It’s an incredible experience playing out here on this court, Pietrangeli,” he added.

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"He can do everything" - Casper Ruud on Alexander Bublik's shotmaking skills

Casper Ruud and Alexander Bublik

Casper Ruud and Alexander Bublik have always maintained a cordial relationship during their matches. In their latest clash in Rome, Bublik showcased his impressive array of shots against the World No. 4.

Ruud couldn't help but appreciate Bublik's shot-making skills and complimented him on his ability to get the crowd involved with his antics.

“He can do everything from a 40 km/h drop shot underarm serve to 220 out wide, a bomb. So it’s very difficult to know what’s coming. And as long as the score is kind of close, you feel like he’s fighting and giving it all. He starts hitting underarm serves and gets the crowd involved even though he’s down,” the Norwegian said.

Ruud will next face Laslo Djere in the fourth round of the Italian Open on Tuesday, May 16.