Nick Kyrgios shocked by Alexander Bublik’s ‘horrible’ comment

Shahida Jacobs
Alexander Bublik during a match

Alexander Bublik has come under fire for his disrespectful comment during his US Open first-round defeat to Dominic Thiem with even Nick Kyrgios left unimpressed.

The 25th-seeded Bublik is no stranger to controversy as he often has run-ins with officials, but many feel he took things too far during his match on Grandstand stadium on Monday.

Upset by his performance against 2020 US Open champion Thiem – a player who has struggled in recent years with no wins at the Grand Slams in 2023 – the Kazakh star made his feelings known during the second set and his slur was picked up by the microphones.

Bublik was heard shouting “I am f**king sick of giving careers back to disabled people” in Russian.

It wasn’t long before the translation made its way onto social media with many rightly expressing their outrage at the comment.

Kyrgios was one of those as he wrote “This is low key horrible ” on Twitter/X.

Thiem went on to win the match 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 for his first win at a Grand Slam since he reached the fourth round of the 2021 Australian Open.

After the match the Austrian was asked for his take on the comment and replied: “Well, I don’t know if the translation is right.”

The journalist then revealed that he checked the translation and it was correct.

Thiem added: “It is? Yeah, it’s a tough saying, you know, something you shouldn’t say in general, you know, just out of respect. Maybe he didn’t mean it that way or whatever.

“But, yeah, what can I say about it?”

The former world No 3 will face Ben Shelton in the second round after the young American came through a four-setter against Pedro Cachin.

“I played him on clay, but this was just, I guess, his first clay court tournament ever or something. On hard, I guess it’s a completely different game. He played quarters in the Australian Open. He had some great results on hard court,” the 29-year-old said.

“In general, I’m looking forward a lot to that match. He’s a great guy. He’s an unbelievable athlete. I really love to watch him. Yeah, I guess that one big thing gonna be the return again. He’s serving incredible.

“Today I was returning well, so I try to do that in the second round as well.”

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