VIDEO. “I didn't know you invited Roger Federer”: call for a ball boy, spoon serves… Bublik put on a show at the Open Occitanie

The beautiful sequence between Alexander Bublik and a ball boy in Montpellier. Screenshot X – ML Montage

Having gone through the qualifications, the American Aleksandar Kovacevic got on the nerves of the eccentric defending champion, Alexander Bublik, to win 6-3, 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the Open Occitanie in Montpellier. Here he is in the semi-finals against Andrey Rublev after a colorful match from the Kazakhstani.

It took that to ignite the crowd at the Sud de France Arena, starved of tennis at the end of the day after Nikoloz Basilashvili's retirement against Andrey Rublev at just 5-2. A duel between a will-o'-the-wisp and an artist, between fire and ice.

In this little game, the American qualifier Aleksandar Kovacevic (102nd) – notably the winner of Nîmes' Robin Bertrand in the very first match – emerged victorious from his quarter-final against the Kazakhstani and double winner of the Open Occitanie (2024 and 2022), Alexander Bublik (39th). After a delightful spectacle and entertainment between the two men, despite the clear score of 6-3, 6-2.

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And for good reason, Kovacevic was absolutely not impressed by the show of the man with the headband. However, Bublik did everything to him. Three serves in a row to win a game here, a positioning on the service line to receive a second serve there, drop shots in spades and… The call for a ball boy to play a point in his place. And win it! To the great joy of the Sud de France Arena.

“Roger is the reason why I have this backhand”

Then provoking the lively protest of the said Bublik with the French referee Aurélie Tourte when she did not count the ball boy's point. Although she herself played the game by letting him put on a show. But there you have it, in front of him, the Kazakhstani had a real client with a superb one-handed backhand.

Which would even make him say, addressing the tournament director Sébastien Grosjean, at the edge of the court: “I didn't know you had invited Roger Federer”. “Roger is the reason why I have this backhand”, the 26-year-old American then replied after the match. Andrey Rublev is warned!

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