The Russian-born Kazakhstani player is very scathing about doubles specialists because he insisted they are only playing a "half" game because they are not cut out for singles play.

He witheringly told The Guardian newspaper as to why he doesn't view doubles specialists as real tennis players: “Because they’re doubles players. It’s not tennis. It’s half tennis.

"If you can’t play singles, you play doubles. If you can’t play doubles, you play padel. Very simple.”

Alexander alsoadmitted his main motivation when he turned professional was to make money, not win tournments.

He said: “I think you realise that quickly once you start making your first money playing tennis that it’s a big business.

“It’s nice to win trophies, it’s nice to be playing in a beautiful arena, it’s all nice but at the end of the day you got to pay yourself and I think that was the very first motivation that I had when I became a professional tennis player.”

The 28-year-old sportsman is known for his scathing rants and blunt attitude, and he insisted there is "nothing wrong" in venting his emotions.

He said: “I think emotions are emotions.

“I guess it’s just we live in a world where everyone tries to fake and I think there’s nothing wrong in just releasing your emotions in a way because it’s a stressful sport.

"We travel a lot, we play a lot, there’s a lot of things on the line so occasionally, if you release it, I guess there’s nothing wrong with that.”