"Not funny what Alexander Bublik is doing"; "This is a joke" - Fans slam Kazakh for 'incredibly disrespectful' gesture during Montpellier loss

Alexander Bublik's latest stunt during the Open Occitanie quarterfinals in Montpellier sparked backlash from fans. His decision to hand his racket to a ball boy to play a point in an ATP 250 match was widely criticized as "unprofessional" and "disrespectful."

On Friday, January 31, Bublik took on Aleksandar Kovacevic in the quarterfinal in Montpellier. The defending champion was 3-6, 1-5 down in the match when he decided to let the ball boy have a go against the American. Notably, this is something typically reserved for exhibition matches rather than a high-stakes ATP quarterfinal.

A video of the incident was uploaded on X and fans erupted with criticism for the Kazakh.

"This is a joke. This is a quarter final. It’s supposed to be serious. 4 underarm serves and this," one fan wrote.

"How is this allowed tho, this is not profesional at all 💀." another fan wrote.

"This too much, too much and too much. Now it s not funny What Bublik is doing on the court," a third fan wrote.

Here are some more fan reactions criticizing Bublik for his actions.

"I’m sorry this is incredibly disrespectful to do during a match and if this was a higher level tournament, everyone would be talking about it," one fan wrote.

"Completely unprofessional to do this in a competitive match. He went on to lose this match and Kovacevic, his opponent, seemed quite unamused in the post match interview," another fan wrote.

"Sorry it’s not an exhibition," yet another fan wrote.

Bublik’s flair has often been a talking point in tennis, but this time, his theatrics seemed to backfire. Moreover, the World No. 39 lost the match 3-6, 2-6.

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Alexander Bublik's Montpellier QF opponent reflects on Kazakh handing racket to ball kid

Alexander Bublik at the 2025 Australian Open - Source: Getty

During his on-court interview after the match, Aleksandar Kovacevic admitted that he was prepared for "something funny" to happen playing against Alexander Bublik.

"I was not expecting to play against the ball kid for a point, but you always know there’s going to be something funny with him [Alexander Bublik]," Kovacevic said.

"I mean, I prepared for that. You know, it’s not the first time he’s having fun out here. It’s not a bad thing. It’s fun for the fans, also. But for me, obviously, and for any opponent that he has, it’s important to stay locked in and focus."

The 26-year-old American will face a stern challenge against top seed Andrey Rublev in the semifinal of the ATP 250 event in Montpellier on Saturday, February 1.