Alexander Bublik shared details from one of his conversations with Daniil Medvedev, revealing that once they thought it was “impossible” to break into the top-300 in the world.
Although the 27-year-old has been representing Kazakhstan for years, he was born in Russia and grew up with Medvedev.
During their junior days but also early stages of their pro careers, they were spending time together but also competing against each other.
So while taking part in one Futures tournament, Bublik and the 2021 US Open champion lamented to each other how it was tough to succeed on the Tour.
Recalling it now, the current world No. 48 finds it a bit funny.
Bublik: Medvedev told me it was impossible to be in the top-300, I agreed
“I remember a Futures in which I participated with Daniil. We were maybe 900th in the world,” the 27-year-old recalled in an interview with L’Equipe.
“He told me: ‘It’s impossible to be top 300.’ I agreed. Well, he was world No. 1, I was top 20.
“In fact, I only understood that I was good from the juniors. I climbed alone to the top 20 juniors and to 180th place in the world, without a coach. As soon as I had a coach and a physiotherapist with me, I climbed to the top 100.”
Alexander Bublik and Daniil Medvedev© YouTube screenshot
Bublik and Medvedev haven’t played any Futures tournaments since 2016 and that was also the year when both of them broke into the top-300 for the first time in their careers.
Since then, the Kazakh tennis player has won four ATP titles and has been ranked as high as No. 17 in the world – that was achieved last May.
On the other side, the Russian tennis star has become one of the best in the game as he is a six-time Grand Slam finalist and also reached the world No. 1 ranking in 2022 February.
It is safe to say that both Bublik and Medvedev exceeded their own expectations.
Tennis World USA