Kubler Reaping The Rewards After Years Of Turmoil
It has been some journey for Jason Kubler.
Five years ago, the 29-year-old was forced to turn his hand to coaching as he tried to make ends meet and support his injury-plagued professional career. On Monday, the Australian qualifier will compete in the fourth round at a Grand Slam for the first time after producing a series of standout performances on the lawns at Wimbledon.
A run of this nature would have seemed a distant dream for the World No. 99 in 2016, when he had just undergone his fifth knee surgery in as many years due to a hereditary knee condition.
"There have definitely been tough times, just like I'm sure with a lot of tennis players," said Kubler, who only played on clay from 2011 to 2014 due to his knee problems. "There have been times where I've gone, 'Maybe I'll look into something else'.
"The closest would have been when I was doing the coaching [in 2017]. I did a bit of coaching and hitting with some players. I probably did that for two or three months when I didn't have so much money.
"I was actually enjoying it. I was starting to make, for me, make some all right money, and I was like, 'I could really be happy doing this'. That was definitely a moment where I could have stopped."
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Thankfully for Kubler, he gave Tour life one more shot and his commitment to the sport has paid off this week. After soaring through qualifying without dropping a set, the Australian dispatched Daniel Evans, Dennis Novak and Jack Sock to set a last 16 meeting with Indian Wells titlist Taylor Fritz.
Thanks to his success in London, the 29-year-old has pocketed £190,000, which will rise to £310,000 should he reach the quarter-finals. Kubler had earned just over £600,000 across his 11-year career prior to this fortnight.
Having never before been beyond the second round at a Grand Slam, his run at SW19 has come as a shock for the down-to-earth Aussie.
“I didn't even book accommodation till after qualifying. So when we qualified on the Thursday, I think the accommodation finished Friday,” said Kubler, the former junior World No. 1. “I was stressing that Friday [24 June] trying to find somewhere. I'm staying at the official hotel now, which is fine.
“[With] my expectation. I came here to sort of see if I can get past a couple of rounds, hopefully qualify. With my ranking only being 99, that's sort of the expectation you go in with. So to reach the second week, I didn't think it was going to happen.”
Kubler will be joined in the fourth round by countryman Alex de Minaur, who is delighted to see the progress the qualifier has made over the past fortnight.
“To be able to see Kubler doing what he's doing, it's just special. He's honestly one of the best guys out there. The attitude he has towards life itself is just surreal. It's second to none,” De Minaur said.
“We've had him in Davis Cup, and honestly I have not seen the guy not be happy any day of his life. It's genuinely just amazing to have him around. He brings you up. He's the sort of guy that just is always happy, and he's always got a smile on his face,” the World No. 27 added. “He's enjoying life. It's great to have him and to see him perform so well. I'm going to be hitting with him [Sunday]. It should be fun.”
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With De Minaur also advancing to the fourth round for the first time and Nick Kyrgios in the last 16, Australian tennis is in a good place. With a bit of help from his body, Kubler is hoping he can become a regular fixture at this level as he looks to use his Wimbledon run as a springboard going forward.
“I'm super happy that something has finally happened,” Kubler said when reflecting on the past week. “I think this is definitely something that I can build off. If anything, this is just going to add more confidence and sort of giving myself a better opportunity to hopefully do this again in the next Grand Slams.”