Kazakhstani tennis player Alexander Bublik at a press conference before Almaty Open-2026 recalled an archived interview that has again become popular on social media. In the clip, the future professional player, still a teenager, sharply criticized the umpire's work after a match. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

In the old video, a journalist asked Bublik what else prevented him from winning. The tennis player replied:

"The umpire. Who doesn't see outs at all. The balls were out like this, and he said 'in'. It was the same for me and for Zhenya. The umpire was a complete idiot."

At the press conference in Almaty, Bublik was asked whether he remembers the circumstances under which the interview was recorded. The tennis player laughed and recounted the events of that day in detail.

"It was the RTT Cup tournament for under-14s. It was held in Moscow, I think at the RGUFK courts (Russian University of Sport – Kursiv), if I remember correctly, because it was... it was a serious championship. It was, roughly speaking, the final eight of the Russian Tennis Tour. I played against Evgeny Tyurnev then."

According to Bublik, he especially remembers the moment when the interview was first shown on television. The tennis player's parents knew about the filming, but Alexander himself had not told them in advance what exactly he said to the journalists.

"I remember that day very well, because when we saw it... There were no social networks then. We saw it on NTV-Plus. We bought a subscription to NTV-Plus because mom and dad knew it would be shown, I gave an interview. Only I didn't tell them anything, that is, I didn't attach any importance to it at all. And then we sat, I remember clearly, yes, watching – they're showing the son, grandmothers gathered, everyone, in general, relatives, they're showing me on TV, and I decided to speak out like that," Bublik said.

Bublik is currently in Almaty, preparing for the home ATP 250 tournament. Almaty Open runs from October 17 to 25 at Almaty Arena. The Kazakhstani is seeded third and will start his campaign in the second round, where he will play the winner of the match between Fabian Marozsan and Timofey Skatov.

Earlier, Bublik said he arrived at Almaty Open earlier than usual to adapt to the court and balls. The tennis player also called Kazakhstan his second home and noted that this year marks ten years since he began representing the country.