Alexander Bublik, after withdrawing from the Almaty Open-2026 semifinal, said he sustained a knee injury late in his quarterfinal match against Karen Khachanov. Twenty minutes before the encounter with Daniil Medvedev, the Kazakhstani was advised not to step onto the court, but he decided to play for the home fans. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

Bublik ended the semifinal after the first set, which Medvedev won 6:3. The Russian advanced to the final, where he will face Nikoloz Basilashvili tomorrow, October 25.

According to Bublik, he picked up the injury in the final rallies of a tense quarterfinal against Khachanov. The Kazakhstani won 4:6, 7:6 (7:5), 7:6 (7:5), hitting 21 aces.

"You play your best match, and then you get injured on the last point of the match against Karen. I got injured at 5:4 in the tiebreak of the third set. You win one of the best matches of the season in your home country, at a tournament where you always wanted to play, and ten hours later you are in a hospital getting an MRI.

But that is sport. It makes you strong, it makes you a player. I always told juniors that it is exactly such moments that define a career, so you just have to go through it and not think too much," Alexander said.

Despite the injury, Bublik decided to play the semifinal. According to him, he initially expected to play only a few games.

"My goal was to step onto the court to show my love to the fans in Almaty, to show love to the country. I knew they were waiting for me.

I gave my maximum to play that set because I was told not to play the match at all. Twenty minutes before the game I was told not to play. But my team and the federation decided that I would tape my knee and step onto the court.

I thought I would last no more than two or three games, but the stands carried me forward, and I played a whole set. For me today that is already a real achievement and a victory."

The Kazakhstani stressed that he had never had such an injury before and that it was not related to overtraining. According to him, doctors called what happened a coincidence.

"This particular injury happened to me for the first time. It is an accident, not overtraining. Both my physiotherapist and the doctor who looked at the scans, and the doctor who did the ultrasound, said that, in simple terms, it is a coincidence, like a twisted ankle.

It happened at 5:4 in the tiebreak of the third set. I ran for a forehand, my foot slipped a little, and I stayed on my toe with all my weight. Inertia plus my own weight – the load was very big. As a result, part of the ligament could not hold and was slightly damaged."

Bublik did not name the exact medical diagnosis at the press conference. At the same time, he said that recovery from such an injury usually takes from three to six weeks.

After the Almaty Open, Bublik's calendar still includes tournaments in Basel and Paris. The Kazakhstani admitted that participation in them is now in great doubt, but he intends to go to Switzerland and continue his recovery.

"The season has only two weeks left, the '500' in Basel and the 'Masters' in Paris. On average, with such an injury and with a player's height, we are talking about about three to six weeks. So the end of the season is in doubt, in great doubt.

But in any case, tomorrow I will fly to Basel and try to do something. Most likely, nothing will come of it, but today I played a set, maybe tomorrow I will play a set and two games – that is how you gradually go through it.

Injuries are part of the game. Sometimes you can play through them, sometimes you cannot, as today, because the pain was already increasing. It is good that it happened at the end of the season, it is bad that it happened in Almaty."

Bublik was also asked whether he had discussed his health condition with Medvedev before the semifinal. The Kazakhstani ruled out such a possibility and stressed that opponents do not discuss such things in advance.

"Under no circumstances, that is never discussed with opponents before a match. It is both wrong and prohibited by the rules. I would never discuss such a thing with anyone."

At the same time, Bublik believes that Medvedev could have understood before the match that his opponent had problems.

"Someone from his team could have seen that I was limping at first, then my knee was taped. I did not warm up properly because I was in the hospital until five in the evening.

When I stepped onto the court, I think he understood everything quickly. We have been playing tennis for a very long time and we see such nuances. Even minimal discomfort is noticeable: if a person does not reach the ball, places his feet incorrectly or cannot hit with the usual power.

So Daniil saw it in any case and simply played enough to win. And why spend more energy?"

Recall that the Almaty Open is being held from October 17 to 25 at the Almaty Arena. The ATP 250 tournament with a prize fund of $1.07 million is being held in the southern capital of Kazakhstan for the third time.