‘BRILLIANT’ Alexander Bublik left tennis fans in stitches after eating a spectator’s crisps.
The unorthodox Kazakhstani star, 26, is never far from a moment of madness.
Twitter @TennisTVAlexander Bublik ended up on the front row of the crowd as he beat Lorenzo Musetti[/caption]
Twitter @TennisTVThe Kazakhstani even helped himself to a fan’s crisps mid-match[/caption]
Twitter @TennisTVThe spectator clearly did not mind too much[/caption]
And he continued his whacky streak by helping himself to a supporter’s snack in the middle of his thrilling quarter-final in Adelaide.
Bublik led Italian No4 seed Lorenzo Musetti 2-1 in the deciding third set when he was unable to chase down a volley winner from his opponent.
And as he ran across to the side of the court, Bublik did not slow down.
Instead, Bublik hurdled the small wall at the side of the court and landed in the front row of fans.
And the gentleman closest to him was minding his own business munching away on a packet of crisps.
Cheeky Bublik gave the bloke a tap on the shoulder and then delved his hand into the bag to pinch a couple of Smith’s original salted crisps for himself in a hilarious moment.
And it got plenty of great reactions from those enjoying the tennis Down Under.
One said: “You can’t make this stuff up.”
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Another wrote: “Bahaha he’s freewheeling I love him so much.”
A third joked: “That was a ‘crisp’ volley.”
And the laughing TV commentator added: “This is brilliant.”
But one salty tennis scrooge moaned: “Am I the only ‘old school’ who thinks this is anti-fair play behaviour and should be penalised? It’s a gentlemen’s sport.”
Incredibly – and to the dismay of sports dieticians across the globe – the energy from the crisps appeared to do the trick for Bublik who saved a match point on his way to winning 6-3 6-7 7-5.
Earlier in the match, Bublik threw in three drop shots and a needless-but-perfect tweener to win one game, before then bowing for the crowd as he put on his very own entertainment show.
The world No25 – seeded eighth in the final warm-up event before the Australian Open starts next week – saw off Brit Dan Evans in the previous round.
And he will now face another British ace in Jack Draper in the semi-finals.
Bublik, who openly admitted he “hates tennis and only plays for the money”, has often hit the headlines for his bonkers antics on court – and not always for good reasons.
In 2022, he baffled fans by hitting a shot with the handle of his tennis racket – and suffered ‘instant karma’ in the Moselle Open final.
Then last year, Bublik was criticised for obliterating three rackets in a matter of seconds in an epic meltdown.
And Nick Kyrgios slammed him for a “horrible” alleged disablist on-court slur as he crashed out of the 2023 US Open to Dominic Thiem in pathetic fashion.
Twitter @tennisTVBublik scaled the low wall at the side of the court before his snack[/caption]
GettyHe saved match point on his way to victory and faces Jack Draper next[/caption]