WATCH: Bublik booed for hitting ball with racquet handle on crucial point in ATP final
ATP
Alexander Bublik isn't afraid to do anything on the tennis court, and he showed that once again during the final match at the 2022 Moselle Open.
Bublik played well in Metz to find himself in the final of the ATP 250 tournament. In the first round, he beat qualifier Evan Furness. He then bested Emil Ruusuvuori and Holger Rune, winning all of these matches in three sets.
In the semi-finals, Stan Wawrinka was forced to retire from their match already after three games, so the Kazakhstani player made it to the final. His final opponent was Lorenzo Sonego.
The Italian player had a great event as well. He wasn't among the seeded players, but he cruised through the draw, beating Aslan Karatsev, Gilles Simon, Sebastian Korda, and Hubert Hurkacz, all without losing a set.
In the final, both served really well in the first set. Still, Bublik had three break points, and Sonego had one chance to break, which was also a set point. However, since all of these chances remained unused, the set had to be decided in a tie-break.
Sonego was the better player in the tie-break, winning it 7-3. Losing a set was nothing new for Bublik in Metz this year, as he lost a set in three of his matches on the way to the final.
This time, however, he was also broken in the second set, and down 1-3 and 30-40, he decided to do something insane. When he had an easy ball at the net, Bublik decided to use his racquet handle to hit the ball.
Surprisingly, he managed to get the ball over the net, and even quite powerfully, but he still lost the point. The crowd in Metz didn't appreciate that, and they started booing Bublik.
Ultimately, Sonego won the final match 7-6(3), 6-2, enjoying a great week of tennis at the Moselle Open. For Bublik, on the other hand, it wasn't the first time that he did something crazy on a court.
In the past, Bublik hinted that playing tennis isn't something that excites him too much, and maybe similar actions help him to enjoy himself a bit more on the court.
