Alexander Bublik quits in bizarre third set retirement at Monte Carlo
Kazakhstan No 1 Alexander Bublik made the unusual call to retire deep into the third set of his Monte Carlo Masters match against Pablo Carreno Busta.
Bublik has made no bones about his dislike for clay court tennis which might have foreshadowed his bizarre exit in Monte Carlo.
The big-serving Russian-born star had taken the first set 6-4 and even served for the match at 5-4 up in the second.
However, as Carreno Busta refused to lie down it seemed Bublik lost interest in completing the final set once the Spaniard claim a break.
Bublik was not visibly injured nor did he call for a trainer before informing the chair umpire of his retirement.
His comments after his victory over Stan Wawrinka in the first round made it clear that he didn’t want to be on a clay court.
Bublik went to far as to suggest that he hoped Wawrinka would play better and beat him so that he could spend time on the beach.
“The only thing I can say is I wish Stan a good recovery. If he was in shape I wouldn’t be standing here,” Bublik said after Monday’s match. “I wish the clay will end and we go onto grass. There was no match from my side, I hate clay, that is a statement – I hate this surface.
He would add, speaking to Tennis TV: “It’s a clay court, I’m running like an elephant, I cannot stop, I cannot explode, I cannot do anything.
“So yeah, I mean at least guys love it, I can make these comments sitting with you here but we all hope [Wawrinka] is going to be back on top of the game very soon.
“If he would be [playing me] maybe three months from now it would be three and three, thank you very much. And I’d go peacefully to the beach and that’s it.”
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