Rublev defaulted from Dubai tournament
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Russia’s Andrey Rublev was defaulted from the Dubai ATP tournament for allegedly using obscene language in an angry tirade at a line umpire on Friday, gifting Alexander Bublik a place in the final.
Most of the deciding set was domi- nated by arguments between Bublik and chair umpire Miriam Bley over the timing of the introduction of new balls.
However, it was Rublev who lost his cool at 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/5), 6-5, yelling toward a line umpire, and getting accused by a different one that the second seed swore at his colleague in Russian.
Rublev insisted he was speaking in English and that he did not use any foul language, but the 26-yearold was defaulted.
Bublik tried to convince Bley and ATP supervisor Roland Herfel to continue play, but the call was made, and the match was over.
The result also means Bublik has secured his top-20 debut and will become the first Kazakh man to crack the world’s top 20 in the history of the ATP rankings when the new standings are released on Monday.
“I would have preferred to lose 7-6 in the third than to win the match like this,” said Bublik after the match.
“We could have played one of the greatest matches we played against each other in front of a packed crowd in Dubai. It’s a pity it’s ended like this.”
Up next in the final for the seventh seed is French fifth seed Ugo Humbert, who ended the title defense of Daniil Medvedev with a 7-5, 6-3 win in one hour and 51 minutes.
Rublev found sympathy from Spanish player Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, a quarterfinalist in Dubai, who described the sanction as “shameful.”
“Very unfair that they disqualify Rublev without first ensuring that what the line judge understood is correct,” the world No. 24 wrote on X.
“That rule should be reviewed and changed. Shameful. We need VAR (video assistant referee) in tennis.”