Madrid Open star tells fans to battle for a gift after upsetting defending champion

It's always a rollercoaster when Alexander Bublik is on the court. The world No. 75 is known for his antics, and it was no different after he on Sunday, taking out defending champion 6-4 0-6 6-4 in a topsy-turvy match.

Afterwards, the Kazakh delighted some fans in the front row by giving them gifts from his tennis bag, including a towel. But two young fans were left fighting over the towel, and Bublik had a solution, telling them to battle it out.

Bublik is through to the last 16 of the Madrid Open for the third time in his career, beating last year's winner Rublev in three sets. It's his 10th victory over a top-10 player, and the 27-year-old was in good spirits after causing a shock in the draw.

He celebrated by throwing some mementoes at spectators in the crowd, but there was a problem when two young fans both grabbed hold of the same towel.

Bublik looked over and gestured to the kids, telling them to play a spirited game of rock, paper, scissors to determine who got to keep it.

The world No. 75 had already won his own battle on the tennis court against Rublev, admitting he had to try to throw the seventh seed off his game in order to beat him.

"I mean, I cannot outplay Andrey, we all know that. He's an incredible athlete, he's better than me in all the aspects if we talk about work," Bublik said after booking his spot in the last 16.

"But I'm the creator, I'm the artist of certain things and for me it was important to keep him away from his work ethic and bring him into my field which worked perfectly this time."

Bublik was locked in when he won the first set against Rublev but things quickly got away from him in set two and he started throwing in some underarm serves before getting bagelled.

However, it was all part of the strategy to mix things up against the defending champion. Bublik added: "I had break points in the first game and then I lost my serve.

"Like I said, I can't out-work the guy, I have to do something else. So I decided to just, you know, give away the set, refocus and try to bring my game again. So that really worked this time and I'm really, really happy about that."

Bublik will have another tough test in the round of 16, as he faces either No. 12 seed or 22nd seed Jakub Mensik, the Miami Open champion.

The Kazakh is a former quarter-finalist in Madrid, reaching the last eight back in 2021 and losing to Casper Ruud.