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Alexander Bublik couldn't believe Casper Ruud's 2022 US Open draw in the earlier rounds as the Kazakh very directly asked the Norwegian "what the hell" was that. In the latest episode of UTS's "All on the Table," Bublik spoke with Ruud and Benoit Paire.
During their conversation, they touched on Ruud's 2022 US Open, which saw the Norwegian make his second Grand Slam final. En route to reaching the 2022 US Open final, Ruud defeated Kyle Edmund, Tim van Rijthoven, Tommy Paul and Corentin Moutet in his first four matches. When Bublik heard that Ruud was playing Moutet for a place in the US Open quarterfinal, he seemed to be in disbelief.
“What the hell is this draw? Except Tommy. But at the time Tommy was 20 [in the world], not 12," Bublik said, via Tennis Majors.
Bublik shades Ruud's 2022 US Open draw
After hearing that Moutet was Ruud's round-of-16 opponent, Bublik also threw shade at world No. 70 Pedro Cachin, who actually wasn't Ruud's opponent during the 2022 US Open.
“So Moutet fourth round, who is quarter-final… Cachin? I’m sorry, no offence, but…” Bublik said.
After beating Moutet, Ruud also defeated Matteo Berrettini and Karen Khachanov for a spot in the US Open final. Unfortunately for Ruud, he fell just one win short of landing his first Slam title at the time after Carlos Alcaraz beat him 6-4 2-6 7-6 (1) 6-3.
"Carlos stepped up when he really needed to. Especially in the third set, it was close to go in my favor. I had some set points and couldn't take care of them. He just played too good on those points. We've seen it many times before, he steps up when he needs to. When it's close, he pulls out great shots," Ruud said after losing the final to Alcaraz.
"All credit to him. At the same time I'm proud of the match and the two weeks. I gave it all. I left it all out on the court. Played some phenomenal tennis throughout the two weeks, probably my best tennis ever on this surface. So I'm very happy in the end."