Alexander Bublik is not a fan of playing through injuries. But at the Shanghai Masters, he found himself dealing with one. Though minor, it required medical attention, and soon after, he was back on the court — relentless. The difference was that he had inflicted the injury on himself. And well, one can vividly recall his eyes when he looked into the camera during a 2024 Tennis Channel clip, offering one piece of advice: “Remember, the racket deserves to die.” So, that’s one factor, too.

The 29-year-old Kazakh was up against Brandon Nakashima in the third round of the Rolex Shanghai Masters. After failing to convert either of his two set points, Bublik surrendered the opening-set tiebreak 9–7 before repeatedly hammering his racket against the court until it was entirely crushed.

Bublik then headed to his chair for the changeover, kicking his broken racket along the way before punching through the lid of a drinks cooler and injuring his hand. He had already vented at his team after missing the two set points, and Nakashima’s backhand winner down the line only added to his frustration.

The cut on Bublik’s hand began to bleed, prompting him to cover it with a towel and ask for the physio. Meanwhile, he also tried to clean the broken shards of his frustration.

He then took a three-minute medical timeout before returning to the court. Chair umpire John Blom issued Bublik a code-violation warning for unsportsmanlike conduct. Despite the interruption, Bublik held serve to open the second set and eventually fought back to beat Nakashima 6–7, 6–3, 7–6.

Sky Sports commentator Nick Lester, who was watching it all unfold, said on the broadcast: “He’s going to need to find a way to calm down quickly. That’s not pretty.”

Bublik’s frustration, though, was far from over. While being treated in his chair, he kept muttering. “I cannot play against gods f***ing everywhere. It’s like everything is against me. Not a single ball. What am I supposed to do? Week after week, everything. In every match,” AOL reported his comments.

This is not the first time the Kazakh has let his emotions spill onto the court. During the Indian Wells this year, Bublik suffered a three-set defeat to qualifier Rinky Hijikata in the round of 32. When Hijikata tied the match at the end of the second set, hitting a smash into the open court, Bublik smashed his racket against the court five times before going on to lose.

During the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships semifinal against Andrey Rublev, Bublik became embroiled in a dispute with chair umpire Miriam Bley over when new balls should be introduced. He said Bley had told him the change would happen after three games, and he argued that the games played at 5–4, 5-all and 6–5 already fulfilled that count. Emotions then boiled over after Bublik lost his serve early in the deciding set. He smashed his racket and received a code violation.

Then, in 2023, in Montpellier, one racket wasn’t enough to vent.

Defending his Open Sud de France title, Bublik had fought back from three match points down against Grégoire Barrère, then built a 4–2 lead in the deciding set. But when the match reached the final-set tiebreak, his game unravelled: three double faults and a missed return left him trailing 0–6. Bublik responded by smashing his racket against the court five times.

“The good news is he’s got plenty of other racquets,” said the commentary team on the call. But Bublik then picked up a second and struck it four times before doing the same with a third. He eventually received a warning for racket abuse, while Barrère won 6–4, 6–7(12), 7–6(3) on his sixth match point.

One of his outbursts has ended in a wholesome moment, too.

Bublik’s racket-smashing took a rather unexpected turn at the 2024 Paris Masters, where he faced 13th seed Holger Rune in the second round. After a run of unforced errors, he smashed his racket, then handed the broken frame to a young fan in the front row instead of simply tossing it away. He ended up losing the match, but the fan went home with a souvenir.

Bublik has faced criticism for his on-court outbursts, but he has defended the expression of emotion in a sport he describes as stressful.

“I think emotions are emotions,” he told The Guardian this year. “I guess it’s just we live in a world where everyone tries to fake and I think there’s nothing wrong in just releasing your emotions in a way because it’s a stressful sport. We travel a lot, we play a lot, there’s a lot of things on the line so occasionally, if you release it, I guess there’s nothing wrong with that.”

That said, the ATP Rulebook covers racket-smashing under Section VIII, The Code, Rule 4(b): Racquet or Equipment Abuse. It says:

Although Bublik received a code-violation warning on court, the monetary fine remains uncertain. And he’d look to put the incident behind him, as he will now face Alexander Zverev, who has been dealing with a right ankle issue and needed a tough fight to get past Quentin Halys in the previous round. For the Kazakh, this could be a chance to make a deep run and throw the draw wide open.