After trading underarm serves and temper tantrums for ruthless victories and a place in the world's top 10, a more mature Alexander Bublik is ready to crash Alex de Minaur's Australian Open party.
Bublik stands between sixth seed de Minaur and a second Melbourne Park quarter-final appearance in a tantalising Rod Laver Arena clash on Sunday night.
The first Kazakh man to reach the fourth round at all four slams, Bublik is well-equipped for the challenge, having fought back from two sets down to vanquish de Minaur at Roland Garros last year.
But the 28-year-old world No.10 knows doing that in front of a parochial crowd in Melbourne is another matter.
"I play Demon and I hope it's going to be a great match," Bublik said after beating Thomas Etcheverry in straight sets on Friday night.
"He's a local hero. He's a great player.
"We've shared a lot of matches together and I can't wait to step on the court with him."
Bublik also got the better of de Minaur in three sets in the Paris Masters quarter-final last year.
Before 2025, de Minaur had claimed the previous three encounters between the pair.
The winner of the de Minaur-Bublik clash will likely face world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz - who takes on 19th seed Tommy Paul - on Sunday - in the quarter-finals.
Bublik was once somewhat of a cult figure on tour - prodigiously talented but underachieving and better known for his on-court antics than his results.
He once infamously smashed three racquets in a row while he has also been in heated confrontations with opponents.
The Kazakh slipped as low as No.82 in the world as recently as last March, which delivered a wake-up call.
While Bublik suffered a first-round exit at Wimbledon, he reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and the US Open, before triumphing in Hong Kong to kick off his year.
"I guess I matured a bit and I really like being home to be honest," Bublik said before jokingly adding: "And realised quickly when I dropped in the ranking that if I play well and I make a lot of points in few events I can have a lot of weeks off."
Another great entertainer, 11th seed Daniil Medvedev, will hope to turn the tables on young gun and 25th seed Learner Tien, who dumped the Russian star out of last year's Open in five sets, when they face off at Margaret Court Arena.
And world No.3 Alexander Zverev will take on Argentinian 18th seed Francisco Cerundolo at John Cain Arena.
Women's No.1 Aryna Sabalenka begins the day's action at Rod Laver Arena against 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko.
World No.3 Coco Gauff will face the tricky Czech 19th seed Karolina Muchova in the opening match on Margaret Court Arena.
Ukrainian star Elina Svitolina, the 12th seed, will face Russia's world No.8, teen sensation Mirra Andreeva, after the de Minaur-Bublik clash.
