Alexander Bublik hilariously mentioned Frances Tiafoe's recent clown comment while revealing how he went against his team and played injured in some of the tournaments leading up to Wimbledon, which resulted in him losing some matches that he probably would have usually won.
In the first week of the grass season, world No. 23 Bublik played in Stuttgart, where he beat Hamad Medjedovic in his opener before retiring against Lorenzo Musetti in his following match. At the time, Bublik's mid-match retirement stunned many since he didn't seem like he was bothered by anything.
In the next two weeks, the Kazakh resumed action in Halle and Eastbourne, where he picked up back-to-back round-of-16 losses to world No. 62 Christopher Eubanks and 69th-ranked Aleksandar Vukic.
After going 2-3 in his three tournaments played leading up to Wimbledon, Bublik started his run at The Championships by edging out Jakub Mensik in five sets before ousting Arthur Cazaux 6-4 7-6 (1) 6-4 to reach the third round.
Earlier this week - one player who also struggled leading up to Wimbledon, Tiafoe - said he was losing to some "clowns" this year.
And after starting earning his first back-to-back wins this grass season, Bublik indicated that he contracted a leg injury in Stuttgart before hilariously referencing Tiafoe's comments.
"For the first few weeks I played I got hurt at the beginning before a match against Musetti. I was barely walking and I was really struggling," Bublik said on Tennis Channel.
"I wanted to play Halle, I was told not to. I wanted to play Eastbourne I was told not to because it would possibly harm Wimbledon. I said I will take the risk I will try because it's my favorite surface.
"It was very disappointing for me and my team to lose against you know what Tiafoe said."
The full clown comment made by Tiafoe
Tiafoe, who broke into the top-10 for the first time in his career in 2023 June, is having a rough 2024 season and he was just 13-14 coming into Wimbledon. However, Tiafoe - now ranked at No. 29 in the world - has managed to find some momentum at The Championships and overcome Matteo Arnaldi and Borna Coric to just for the third time this year win back-to-back matches.
But before Tiafoe reached the Wimbledon third round, he came close to packing his stuff and leaving the tournament in the first round because world No. 35 Arnaldi was up by two sets before the American came back to win 6-7 (5) 2-6 6-1 6-3 6-3. After surviving the Arnaldi challenge, the 26-year-old American pretty much said that he got too comfortable after he started to play his best tennis and that it backfired that he started losing to "clowns."
Its brutal. Highs and lows. Think about where Im at. Literally this week last year I was 10 in the world and now Im barely seeded here (at Wimbledon). Losing to clowns, I hate to say it but Im just gonna be honest," Tiafoe said after his opening win at Wimbledon against Arnaldi.
I took the game for granted and got a little too comfortable. You stop having fun with it and you find yourself in a weird position. Then you kind of forget what you were doing to win? You start doubting yourself and all these kinds of things.
But its the game. Its like anything, nothing is peaches and cream all the time. Its about how fast you can kind of get out of that. And there is always light at the end of the tunnel, whether you either try and find it with small wins or continue to feel sorry for yourself and continue to play victim, thats where it just gets darker and darker and darker.
Tiafoe received certain criticism and scrutiny for his comments
While Tiafoe's form undoubtedly hasn't been the best this year, the majority of his losses this year have still come against top-100 players. And with that being said, some tennis fans weren't impressed with the American's remark since they thought it was extremely disrespectful to some of his colleagues.
But after making that comment, Tiafoe went on to beat Coric in three sets and set up a third-round meeting against Carlos Alcaraz.
Meanwhile, Bublik is set to fight against Tommy Paul for a place in the Wimbledon round-of-16.
If Tiafoe manages to upset Alcaraz, he will reach the second week at Wimbledon for the second time in his career. On the other side, Bublik also has his second Wimbledon round-of-16 appearance at stake.
Both Bublik and Tiafoe play their third-round matches on Friday.
