Alexander Bublik Admits “Everyone Has Already Given Up” on Challenging Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

Alexander Bublik has never been afraid to say what many players only admit behind closed doors on the ATP Tour. While several players continue to insist that they are seeking to improve their game to challenge Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, Bublik has revealed that almost all the players have given up on that goal.

Sinner and Alcaraz’s dominance has led several former players to question the level of competitiveness on the current men’s circuit. Recently, former World No.1 Marat Safin insisted that Alcaraz and Sinner would have found it hard to be in the top 2 of the ATP rankings during the peak era of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

The duo has dominated men’s tennis in the last three seasons, winning nine of the last ten Grand Slams. The only player to win a Slam outside Alcaraz and Sinner is Alexander Zverev, who did so at the French Open last month after beating Flavio Cobolli in five sets at the Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris.

Bublik defeated Sinner at the Halle Open in 2025 after winning three sets. It was the 28-year-old’s second win over the Italian star in two years, but Sinner responded by beating the Kazakhstani at the 2025 US Open and Vienna Open. Sinner leads their head-to-head record 6-2 on tour. Meanwhile, Bublik has met Alcaraz just once on the court.

He faced the Spaniard at this year’s Monte Carlo Masters and lost in straight sets. Alcaraz has been sidelined due to injury, during which Sinner has won six titles in his last seven tournaments, including five ATP Masters 1000 titles. Speaking to Tennis Magazin, Bublik revealed that he was lucky to have beaten Sinner at the Halle Open, stressing that he and other players have given up on challenging Alcaraz and the Italian star:

With a lot of luck, and I say that completely seriously. At Grand Slams, where Sinner and Alcaraz are at their best and perfectly prepared, you practically have no chance. I have the feeling that everyone else has already given up — myself included. That changes your objectives. I was talking with my coach recently, and we agreed that winning a Grand Slam is almost unreachable when those two are playing their best.

Sinner defeated Zverev at the Wimbledon Championships final on Sunday (July 12), winning his fifth Grand Slam. It is the World No.1’s first major title of the season, having lost to Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Australian Open and to Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round of the French Open.

Alexander Bublik admits he prefers playing in 15 Grand Slam semi-finals to chasing just one major title

Alexander Bublik has yet to reach a Grand Slam semi-final in his career. The Kazakhstan star reached the quarter-finals of the French Open last year, but lost to Jannik Sinner in straight sets. There were expectations that, in his runs at Roland Garros and the Halle Open, he would reach the later stages of Wimbledon, but that didn’t happen.

He only got better towards the end of the last season, reaching the semi-finals of the ATP 1000 Masters event in Paris. During the aforementioned interview, Bublik admitted that he would prefer to reach the semi-finals of 15 Grand Slams than to spend his whole career trying to chase just one major title in his career:

There are players who retire after finally winning a Grand Slam because they realize it didn’t make them happy. That’s not healthy. It’s just as important to be a good husband, a good father and a good friend. I’d rather reach 15 Grand Slam semifinals than spend my whole career chasing one title.

Bublik won four tour-level titles last season and finished inside the top 10 for the first time in his career, but this year he has not replicated that level of form. He failed to defend the Halle Open last month, crashing out in the round of 32. However, he made up for the lost points at Wimbledon, where he reached the fourth round.

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