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Alexander Bublik's derisive remarks on the opponents faced by Casper Ruud en route to the 2022 US Open final have sparked outrage among tennis fans.
Ruud contested his second Grand Slam final at the 2022 US Open, where he was defeated by Carlos Alcaraz in four sets. In a recent episode of UTS Tour's All on the Table with Bublik and Benoit Paire, the Norwegian admitted to feeling surprised at his achievement, considering all of his practice sessions had resulted in losses.
"It was crazy because I was there for one week practicing before, and I lost every set in practice. Doesn't matter who I played, I lost every practice. It was too fast for me, I had no chance to play," Casper Ruud said.
Ruud then acknowledged his favorable draw at the New York Major, having secured wins over Kyle Edmund and Tim van Rijthoven in the initial rounds.
"And then I had quite a good draw. First round, I played Kyle Edmund and then second round I played Tim van Rijthoven," he said.
The 25-year-old pointed to his remarkable performance in the fifth set of his 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-0 win over Tommy Paul as the turning point in his campaign.
"Then I played Tommy Paul in the third round. The score was like 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 5-7, 6-0 in the fifth set. So after this fifth set, I don't know what happened but something just clicked. I could hit every forehand wherever I wanted to," he added.
While mentioning his fourth-round match against Corentin Moutet, Casper Ruud was interrupted by Alexander Bublik, who questioned whether he had faced Pedro Cachin in the quarterfinals, taking a dig at the Norwegian's seemingly easy draw.
"And then I played Corentin Moutet in the fourth round," Casper Ruud said.
"What the hell is this draw? And then who was in the quarterfinal? [Pedro] Cachin?" Bublik said.
Ruud clarified that he had squared off against Matteo Berrettini in the quarterfinals, and Bublik quickly added that his comment wasn't meant to cause offense.
"No, it was Matteo Berrettini," he said.
"I'm sorry, no offense," Bublik stated.
However, tennis fans did not take kindly to Bublik ridiculing Ruud's draw at the 2022 US Open. One fan asserted that the Kazakh's attempt at being "sassy" had ended up being more mean-spirited than witty.
"Bublik trying to be that sassy b**ch but he's missing an ingredient so it's just coming off nasty," the fan posted.
"I rlly rlly dislike Bublik," another fan commented.
One fan questioned what Pedro Cachin had done to provoke the snide comment from Bublik.
"What did Cachin do to deserve this," the fan wrote.
Here are a few more reactions from fans:
A brief look at Casper Ruud and Alexander Bublik's campaigns at US Open 2023
Entering the 2023 US Open as the fifth seed, Casper Ruud commenced his campaign with a 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) win over Emilio Nava. However, the Norwegian failed to defend the points from his runner-up finish in 2022, suffering a shock defeat to Zhizhen Zhang in the second round.
Meanwhile, Alexander Bublik entered the New York Major as the 25th seed and took on Dominic Thiem in his tournament opener. The Kazakh was ousted from the tournament in the first round itself, losing to Thiem in straight sets.
It was Novak Djokovic who ultimately triumphed at the 2023 US Open, defeating Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 in the final to clinch his record 24th Grand Slam title.
