Kazakhstan’s men’s No 1 Alexander Bublik is hopeful that he can enjoy a more fruitful US Open season than in days gone by.
The tall, big-serving world No 27 has often threatened to bring his abundant physical gifts to bear on the ATP Tour.
Bublik has, however, been stuck with the dreaded ‘mercurial’ tag and has struggled to crack the top 20.
He won just his second WTA Tour title in Halle but hopes for a better season in the United States this time around.
Bublik has reached two finals on US soil, but both of those were at the grass court Hall of Fame Open in Newport.
He has taken a different approach to the US Open season this time around, skipping Newport to recharge after a sequence of eight wins on the bounce in Halle and at Wimbledon and will kick off his stateside participation in Los Angeles in the UTS league exhibition event.
“The US swing has never been a success for me,” Bublik said, according to Tennis Majors.
“But maybe this year starting with the with a great UTS event.
“Maybe it will change something we’ll see at the end of the US Open series.”
Bublik is not getting carried away with a successful run to end his grass court season as he focuses on improving his results on American soil and continuing a charge up the rankings.
He has no room for sentiment and dwelling on what he achieved a few weeks ago.
“It’s good, but what you really mentioned (winning Halle and making the second week of Wimbledon) is behind me, so I’m really looking forward to the new chapter to the new US Open series,” Bublik said.
“What happened in Halle and Wimbledon stays there, stays in the past, so I’m looking forward to the future.”
Bublik is one of the most entertaining players on tour and hopes to give the fans in Los Angeles plenty to cheer.
“I think they will enjoy it. And especially, the fans are really close to the court, they will do whatever they want. I think it’s really different than pretty much different event to what we used to play.”
Bublik believes that of all the players in the UTS League event, Gael Monfils is the most watchable.
“Nick (Kyrgios) is out of the field. I would have said him, but now I think I’ll go for Gael (Monfils). I think he has the biggest fan experience on the court, he’s older, we are 10 years apart and I think he has 10 years more of experience of being an entertainer.”
Bublik is well-placed to make up ground on the players ahead of him on the ATP Rankings given that he has very few points to defend after an early exit from the Canadian Open last term and not playing Cincy.
READ MORE: ‘What Novak Djokovic has done does not tarnish what Roger Federer did’
