Alexander Bublik beat Brandon Nakashima 6-7(7), 6-3, 7-6(5) on Sunday in the third round of the Shanghai Masters 1000, in 2h30. According to HLN, he was ranked 22nd on the ATP list, Nakashima 18th. That part I understood straight away.
The rest took me longer. Bublik lost the first set in a tie-break after wasting two set points. He smashed his racket. On his way back to his seat, he gave his bench a big kick. Then he hit the fridge installed next to him. According to HLN, he put his fist through it and the plastic lid broke apart.
Silly question, but: is there a fridge on court?
I read it three times. A fridge. Next to the bench. During a match. In football, the substitutes get a bench and a water bottle. Here there is a full set of furniture: a chair, a bench, a fridge. All that’s missing is a hotplate so we could cook pasta at the changeover.
On the 7.32 train, I made a list of what I know about this fridge. It has a lid. The lid is plastic. The lid broke. That’s all. I don’t know what was inside, whether it was plugged in, or who fills it. I asked the newsroom who fills the players’ fridge. I was told “in a bit”. I’m still waiting.
Jean-Pol, of course, had an opinion.
It’s very simple: a fridge is an opponent that returns nothing. He won that point, at least.
What I take from it is that Bublik pulled himself together and won in three sets. For the first time in his career, he is into the last 16 in Shanghai, where he will play Alexander Zverev for a place in the quarter-finals. I’ll check whether there is a fridge on his side too.
Anyway, I still have a lot to learn.
It’s true, we checked: HLN.
