By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday March 31, 2021
Alexander Bublik has made no secret of the fact that he’s blown away by the maturity of 19-year-old Jannik Sinner. And on Tuesday, after the Italian notched a 7-6(5), 6-4 win over the Kazakh, Bublik told him so at the net.
“You’re not a human, man,” Bublik told a smiling Sinner. “You’re 15 years old and you play like this?”
Of course Bublik, who became the first player from Kazakhstan to ever reach the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 event when he defeated Taylor Fritz in the round of 16 on Tuesday, knows that Bublik is 19. And he also knows that the rising Italian is a force to be reckoned with.
“I asked him if he's a human or not, because for me, like from myself, it's very surprising that the guy at his age have this mental toughness that, you know, many, many other players don't have,” Bublik said. “I called him a robot couple of times during the match, but I do it in a very sincere way because he's really, really a great player.”
When asked about Bublik’s praise for him, Sinner gave his standard answer: “It's obviously pleasure, you know, hearing that, first of all,” he said, before adding: “But, you know, I'm 19, I still have to improve everything.”