Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 29, 2025 Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik reacts during his second round match against Australia's Alex de Minaur REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
PARIS (Reuters) -Sleepy Alexander Bublik said he was almost snoozing through his French Open second-round match against Alex De Minaur on Thursday before waking up just in time to earn a five-set victory he called one of his best in his Grand Slam career.
The 27-year-old Kazakh is notoriously mercurial in his game and there was no better display when he chatted with ball kids, joked with the crowds and quickly fell two sets behind to the Australian.
"It was a bit early for me," Bublik told a press conference. "11 am is not my preferable time. I was a bit sleepy in the first two sets. I'm not the guy who wakes up always at the same time, do their things. For me it's a bit tough to be on a Slam, two-week events.
"I was checking the (return) tickets already in my head. I didn't really care, in a way. I was like I will accept the loss."
The world number 62, however, woke up at just the right time to turn the game around and stun De Minaur 2-6 2-6 6-4 6-3 6-2 after an almost three hours battle.
"So it was key to wake up and then to play one of the best Slam matches that I ever played in my life," he said. "I think it's definitely one of the best performances I did on a Slam like game-wise."
Bublik next faces Portugal's Henrique Rocha in the third round.
(Reporting by Karolos GrohmannEditing by Christian Radnedge)
