Alexander Bublik ignores Paris Masters rival and avoids handshake in surprising scenes

Alexander Bublik raised eyebrows when he chose not to shake hands with Alexei Popyrin at the Paris Masters. The No. 13 seed sealed a routine 6-4 6-3 victory over the Australian in the first round on Monday, and then walked straight to the umpire's chair instead of meeting his opponent at the net.

Fans were baffled as Bublik ignored Popyrin and decided not to meet him at the net, as there was no apparent conflict during the match. But one moment might have encouraged the Kazakh against shaking hands.

Bublik led by an early break in the second set but found himself facing break points at 2-0. Popyrin won a thrilling exchange, hitting two lucky net cords during the rally to break, and didn't apologise.

Although it's not required, players often raise their hands in apology when their ball clips the top of the net and manages to go over. But Popyrin was so delighted that he managed to get back on serve, he simply pumped his fist in celebration.

It didn't take long for Bublik to regain his advantage, however, and he broke again to lead 4-2 before serving out the match in an hour and 14 minutes. He then shook hands with the umpire and packed his belongings as Popyrin left the court.

They had previously faced off at the Madrid Open earlier this year, where Bublik came through in two sets, after briefly halting play when he called the supervisor following a contentious call.

It was a solid performance from Bublik, who hit 31 winners to just 16 unforced errors. But he wasn't best pleased with his showing on the court. The world No. 16 said: "I definitely didn't play my best today but tennis is not about bringing your best every day, it's about winning when you're not feeling well, and especially in a new venue.

"You're kind of used to the old Bercy type of court. Everything, the vibe, is different, so I think it wasn't easy for both of us and I was just, I guess, more stable in the crucial moments, and I used my chances better.

"I'm quite happy with the win but I'm not really happy with my performance because I was missing quite a bit, my serve was not really working well. But overall, a win is a win, so I get on and I try to be better next time."

The 28-year-old has enjoyed a resurgent season after dropping out of the world's top 80 in March. He reached the Phoenix Challenger final and won the Turin Challenger in spring, then carried his momentum into the French Open, storming into the quarter-finals.

Bublik stunned Jannik Sinner en route to the Halle title and has since lifted three more trophies in Gstaad, Kitzbuhel, and Hangzhou. Now sitting at a career-high ranking, Bublik is prioritising his health - but he's also eyeing a top-10 debut.

"I think as we can see, a lot of people are injured, a lot of players unfortunately are injured, so, for me, the priority is to stay healthy because we change balls, we change surfaces every week, we all feel certain parts of our body. So, for me, the goal is to stay healthy, because if you stay healthy, you can play more events, you can be more stable throughout the season," he explained.

"So that's probably the key because I think I used my schedule quite well, I skipped a couple of Masters, I was prioritising my health, and then I went on to play and now I'm playing Paris and then I play Metz, so for me, it's more about taking care of my body and just play tennis and see how it goes because you know things can change quickly in tennis.

"I don't know about [making a top-10 debut] early next year but obviously if I have 500 points to [reach the] top-10, of course that's achievable because I'm not defending much. But now it's all about me being there, playing great tennis in crucial moments against the top players.

"We have a certain number of tournaments that come into the ranking and I have already filled 16 or 18 tournaments already, so I have to make a big result, so now it's depending on me. Just, as I said, stay healthy and use your chances."