Alexander Bublik has been in fine form recently as he continues to impress on the ATP Tour.
Having struggled for form during the first few months of the season, the Kazakh star surprised everyone in Paris when Bublik qualified for the quarterfinals of the French Open.
Backing that result up with another strong performance, Bublik won the Halle Open on grass in the lead up to Wimbledon.
Photo by CARMEN JASPERSEN/AFP via Getty Images
Unable to carry that momentum through to Wimbledon, Bublik lost in the first round, but quickly bounced back by winning his second title of the year.
Returning to clay courts for the Swiss Open ATP 250 event, Bublik defeated Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the final to win his first career title on the surface.
Reacting to the 28-year-old’s latest win, a former ATP star claimed Bublik has proven himself wrong and predicts where he will be ranked for the next three years.
John Isner claims Alexander Bublik has ‘completely disproven his own theory’ about clay courts
During the latest episode of ‘Nothing Major,’ former Wimbledon semifinalist John Isner shared his thoughts on the Kazakh number one.
“He used to always say how much he dislikes clay,” said Isner.
“He has completely disproven his own theory, making the quarters of the French Open and now easily winning this tournament in Gstaad.”
TournamentTierResultMatch winsSwiss OpenATP 250Champion4French OpenGrand SlamQuarterfinalist4Hamburg OpenATP 500First round0Challenger TurinChallenger 175Champion5Italian OpenMasters 1000Second round1Madrid OpenMasters 1000Fourth round3Munich OpenATP 250First round0 (2 qualifying wins)Monte-Carlo MastersMasters 1000Qualifying0Alexander Bublik at clay tournaments in 2025
Isner proceeded to comment on Bublik’s chances at his next ATP tournament in Kitzbuhel.
“I see he is also the number one seed in Kitzbuhel,” he said.
Top eight seeds in Kitzbuhel 20251. Alexander Bublik2. Sebastian Baez3. Pedro Martinez4. Roberto Bautista Agut5. Tomas Martin Etcheverry6. Arthur Rinderknech7. Francisco Comesana8. Marton Fucsovics
“These are high-altitude, clay-court events, and I can see how he can be very good at altitude tennis.
“You’re in the mountains. Beautiful setting. I think he now knows that he is really good on clay. Maybe not his best surface, probably grass still is, but he can play on all surfaces.”
Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images
With that in mind, the American predicted where Bublik will be ranked for the next three years on the ATP Tour.
“I think he should be a sure-fire top 20 guy for the next three years, in my opinion,” said Isner.
Isner has faith in Bublik becoming a top-20 player again, but where is the 28-year-old currently ranked?
How far away is Alexander Bublik from the top 20?
Once ranked 17th in the world, Bublik fell well outside the top 50 earlier this year, before he rediscovered his best tennis in the French capital.
Following his win in Gstaad, Bublik returned to the top 30, edging ever closer to a place in the top 20.
RankNameAgePointsPoints gap to 20th20thGrigor Dimitrov342,155–21stArthur Fils212,1302522ndTomas Machac242,1104523rdUgo Humbert272,0956024thAlexei Popyrin252,05010525thJiri Lehecka232,01514026thAlejandro Davidovich Fokina261,94521027thFelix Auger-Aliassime241,86529028thDenis Shapovalov261,83631929thStefanos Tsitsipas261,82533030thAlexander Bublik281,825330Snapshot of the ATP Rankings
Bublik currently trails world number 20 Grigor Dimitrov by 330 points, but could jump up a few places in the rankings if he were to win this week’s Kitzbuhel Open.
Taking home all 250 points could see Bublik rise to as high as 24th in the rankings, his highest placement of 2025.
He won’t have things all his own way, however, as he competes among a strong field of clay-court specialists in Austria.
Receiving a bye into round two, Bublik will take on the winner of Jaime Faria and Thiago Augustin Tirante’s first-round match on Wednesday, July 23.