Kubler seeking more ‘special moments’ at Wimbledon

Glenn Moore | June 27, 2023

Jason Kubler’s breakout run from Wimbledon qualifying into the tournament’s last 16 was one of the championships’ feel-good stories in 2022. The Aussie battler won six rounds to make into the second week before falling to No.11 seed Taylor Fritz.

That yarn won’t be repeated this year because Kubler has a guaranteed place in the main draw of the sport’s most fabled grand slam for the first time in his career.

He will go into the tournament full of confidence after what winning the grass-court Wimbledon warm-up at Ilkley, in Yorkshire, last week.

That was the latest success in a solid year during which the Queenslander climbed into the top 100 and won matches at all four slams.

The one he’ll be telling his grandkids about, however, was a defeat, to former world No.1 Andy Murray in the quarter-final at Surbiton earlier this month.

After more than a decade on the circuit, during which he required six knee surgeries, Kubler has developed a healthy perspective on the grind of the tour, the pressures of which can wear a player down mentally as well as physically.

“I’m 30 now. I’m chasing those moments on the court,” he told AAP.

“After I retire I want to be able to tell my kids or grandkids I played this person, I played on this court. To play Andy, having that experience, win or lose, is something special to me.

“My focus is on improving. If I find if I can get better, then hopefully that will reflect in the rankings and in my results, but honestly, I’m just chasing those moments, being on the big courts with the big players.”

Along the way Kubler has begun to feel more comfortable mixing with those big players. At the US Open last year he admitted: “I’m still not used to these tournaments. Even just hanging around some of the guys in the locker room, I’ve only seen them on TV. So being in conversations with them is still a little bit surreal.”

But now he says: “Just being around the players more makes you feel more confident, you hit with the higher-ranked players and that makes you feel more comfortable with them.”

Kubler’s rise up the rankings is all the more creditable, missing out on points he would usually have gained at Wimbledon last year after – the tournament’s decision barring entry to Russian and Belarusian players due to the war on Ukraine.

“I’d love to have gotten the points but obviously, there were bigger things (going on). I said last year, ‘I’m just happy to get the prize money. I don’t want to change my tune the further I go’, so I think from day one when in quallies I was happy to get that $10,000.”

Kubler ended up winning £190,000 (then A$335,000) at Wimbledon, a significant sum for a player who in his mid-20s was coaching to pay the bills, and buying groceries on special to cut costs.

So far he’s been too busy to use it to make a down payment on a house as he had planned.

“I didn’t get home until December (due to Davis Cup squad commitments) and then I was like, ‘I gotta start my pre-season’. I had two days off, but when I get home, whenever that is, probably after the US Open (in September) I can pull the trigger on something.”

The Gold Coast, where he trains, is favourite, but Kubler adds: “My mum is an hour north of Brisbane. So if I buy on the Goldie I’m probably not going to see her that often. I’ve got to decide what I really want to do.”

For the moment, though, he’s enjoying feeling at home on tennis’ big stage.