One of the players to have risen through the ranks in the last 12 months is Alexander Bublik. His career has taken a totally different trajectory due to his performances in the past year. Having won four ATP singles titles last year and the 2026 Hong Kong Open, he entered the top 10 on the rankings for the first time in his career in January. However, the latest comments made by his father, Stanislav Bublik, have shaken the foundations of the Kazakh’s meteoric rise.

Stanislav, who had coached Bublik up until 2019 and had guided him into the top 50 on the rankings, has claimed that his son has barely paid him throughout his career.

“Normally, the player pays the coach’s salary. But how does it work when the coach is the father? It’s a delicate issue. Sasha thinks everyone should be paid except me. To be honest, during his entire tennis career, I received $20,000 from him when we split in 2019. That’s all I earned from my son, and I’m not even mentioning how much I spent on his career,” Stanislav said, speaking to Sports.

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Stanislav further claimed that Alexander Bublik previously had a clause on his contract which stated that he would have to give his father 20% of his prize money from each tournament. Though the two had mutually agreed to break this clause, the World No. 11 had promised that he would give the money to Stanislav. However, he hasn’t lived up to his word.

“In fact, we had a contract from when he was about 18. According to it, he gave me 20% of his prize money. At one point, Sasha’s mother said it wasn’t right. He came to me and said, ‘Dad, let’s break it now. But I promise you, as a man, that 20% of the prize money is yours.’ So far, I’ve received $20,000.”

This wasn’t all, as Stanislav also claimed that he doesn’t communicate with his son regularly. He even said that Bublik tries to avoid him as much as he can and recalled the last time that the two had chatted face-to-face.

“To begin with, I’m not the one who doesn’t communicate with him — it’s him who doesn’t communicate with me. These are completely different things. It has nothing to do with tennis. It’s better to ask him. He avoids the topic, saying it’s a family matter. I tried to communicate with him, to get in touch. Last year, during the Miami tournament, he spent 20 minutes with me near the trash can,” he further said.

Though Bublik has yet to say anything on the matter, it appears that the fractured relationship between him and his father has affected his performance in the last few tournaments. He hasn’t looked at his best since he triumphed over Lorenzo Musetti in the Hong Kong Open final.

Additionally, the Kazakh was also involved in some controversial moments during the latter stages of the hard-court season this year.

Alexander Bublik loses his cool in Rotterdam and Indian Wells Open

Bublik had come into the Rotterdam Open after a fourth-round elimination to Alex de Minaur in the Australian Open. Though he was among the favorites to win the ATP 500 event, the 28-year-old crashed out against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semifinals. However, it was his behavior during the Round of 32 clash against Hubert Hurkacz that had sparked a lot of attention.

Alexander Bublik took a brutal dig at Hurkacz’s playstyle after losing a point in the first set and even dragged Novak Djokovic into his comments.

“Ace, ace, double fault, double fault, double fault, ace, ace, double fault, ace, ace, double fault. What the hell is this? And they tell me I have no rhythm. I’m Djokovic next to him, damn it!” he shouted during the match.

The drama continued in the second set as Bublik decided to once again vent out his frustration. “Ace ace double shank shank ace shank double fault wtf is that give me some tennis.”

Though he eventually won the match 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, his on-court behavior wasn’t received well by the crowd. The Kazakh was involved in another heated moment, this time at the Indian Wells. He was knocked out of the tournament by qualifier Rinky Hijikata in the Round of 32. Though Bublik had won the first set 6-7, the Aussie made an unexpected comeback and won the next two sets 7-6, 6-3.

Bublik failed to keep a check on his emotions after losing the second set. He let out his anger by smashing his racket five times onto the court. This was matched with mixed reactions from the crowd, as some of them cheered and others booed.

After an early elimination at the Indian Wells, Bublik’s struggles continued in Miami. He was sent packing after a first-round 4-6, 4-6 defeat to Matteo Berrettini. This result saw him conclude his hard-court season on a dismal note.

Now, moving into his next tournament, Alexander Bublik opened his Monte Carlo Masters campaign against Gaël Monfils in the first round and won in straight sets. Can he launch the clay season strongly, or will early defeat strike again?