His coach Artem Suprunov is on an impressive run of his own, racking up victories on the FIFA video game series.
“My coach is superior in FIFA, so any day Taylor [Fritz] wants to play, it’s impossible,” Bublik said, shouting out FIFA fan Taylor Fritz. “My coach averages 14 wins on a weekend league out of 15. Yesterday he did 13 wins out of 15, which is a good number because he plays on a big TV with an unstable connection. He’s another league. He’s a pro league, my coach.”
How does Suprunov find time to game in between coaching Bublik back up the rankings?
“Coaching me is like an hour of day’s work,” Bublik insists. “It’s paradise. You work an hour, listen to some jokes.”
His advice for Bublik’s next match against either No. 12 seed Ben Shelton or No. 22 seed Jakub Mensik (who is fresh off winning his maiden Masters 1000 title at the Miami Open), was simple enough.
“Be yourself and don’t bother,” quoted Bublik.
“For me, the most important thing is to enjoy, because if I don’t enjoy, I think about quitting. As long as I’m smiling, you can be convinced that I’ll still be coming here.”
Smiling, and perhaps a steady internet connection.
