Kazakhstan's top-ranked tennis player, Alexander Bublik, has slipped one spot in the updated ATP rankings to No. 17, and the national team's coaching staff has decided not to call him up for the Davis Cup tie against Thailand, infohub.kz reports.
Bublik's performance at the US Open was far from successful. In the third round of the Grand Slam tournament, he lost to American Tommy Paul (No. 21 seed) in five sets — 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 3-6. Failing to defend last year's points, the Kazakh dropped to No. 17 in the rankings, though he was recently inside the top 10.
Despite losing 1,300 points, Italy's Jannik Sinner remains world No. 1, having missed New York due to injury. New US Open champion Alexander Zverev held on to second place, but his lead over Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, who lost to Ben Shelton in the semifinals, has widened significantly.
Shelton himself climbed to a career-high No. 4. It is worth recalling that in March this year, Shelton lost to Kazakhstan's Alexander Shevchenko in Miami — 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (3-7), 3-6.
It is Alexander Shevchenko who will be Kazakhstan's No. 1 in the upcoming Davis Cup tie against Thailand. Team captain Dias Doskarayev, announcing the squad that also includes Timofey Skatov, Denis Yevseyev, Beibit Zhukayev and Amir Omarkhanov, commented on Bublik's omission:
"When forming the squad, we considered several factors at once. Of course, our goal is to win the upcoming match. At the same time, we believe it is important to use such ties to expand the squad and give playing practice to other tennis players. That is why this time we decided to give the team a chance to play without Alexander Bublik. Alexander remains one of the leaders of our national team, and his absence is due to our decision to involve other players and gradually increase the team's depth."
The Kazakhstan–Thailand match will take place in Astana on September 18–19 on hard court.
Shevchenko and Skatov will most likely play the singles matches. The doubles lineup is not yet known. Grigoriy Lomakin, the country's highest-ranked doubles player, has not been invited for the Thailand tie.