India, June 3 -- Alexander Bublik sank to the floor like he had never done before. When he rose, his face was covered in the Parisian clay, but he couldn't care less. The smile refused to leave his face.

The man who claimed he never took his sport very seriously, Bublik shed a few tears on Court Suzanne Lenglen. For the first time in his career, the 27-year-old had made it to the quarter-final of a Grand Slam.

The Kazakh player soaked in the standing ovation from the crowd that witnessed him beat world No.5 Jack Draper 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in their fourth round match at the French Open on Monday. But then he refused to get emotional on court.

"I'm standing here like I won the thing. I can't cry here, come on," he said in the post-match i...