Bublik explains why he did not shake hands with Popyrin

Yesterday at the Rolex Paris Masters 2025, there was a moment of tension after the match between Alexander Bublik and Alexei Popyrin. The Kazakh won without much trouble; however, the drama unfolded afterwards when neither player sought each other to shake hands, not even at the net. But what happened between the two?

"If someone doesn't apologize after hitting two winners at the net but celebrates as if they had won something... well, I don't see anything wrong with it. You can be happy, but you can also apologize. I'm not someone who gives much importance to these things, but there are codes. If someone doesn't respect them... why should I do something different?" Bublik expressed in statements collected by Ubitennis.

Bublik defeated Popyrin in the first round in Paris, the Kazakh did not shake hands with the Australian at the end of the match. Why? 👇🏽

🗣 "Well, just because if someone doesn't apologize for two winning volleys but celebrates as if they had won something... I don't see anything wrong with it. I think that... pic.twitter.com/dJDNve6vtl

— Ubitennis (@Ubitennis) October 28, 2025

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Bublik explica por qué no se dio la mano con Popyrin