Russian tennis player and World No.5 Andrey Rublev has been disqualified from the ongoing Dubai Tennis Championship 2024 for shouting at line judge during his semifinal against Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan on Friday, March 1.
The incident took place in the deciding set, where he was trailing by a game against Alexander Bublik. Rublev became furious and erupted after losing a crucial point to Bublik in the final set of the semifinal clash. The Russian tennis star lost the second set after winning the opening set.
After losing a crucial point, Andrey Rublev immediately pointed to the baseline and walked up to line judge, leaned over, and screamed in his face. But the judge didn't react to Rublev's yelling. However, the official complained to the chair umpire about Rublev's behaviour. The World No.5 was seemingly unhappy with a line call, which led to losing a point to Bublik.
The chair umpire had a word with Andrey Rublev before he was disqualified from the tournament due to his unsporting conduct on the court. As per the reports, Rublev hurled abuses at line judge, calling him 'f****ing moron' in Russian.
Apart from disqualification from the tournament, Andrey Rublev will not receive $150,000 from his semifinal match. With the Russian tennis player being disqualified, Alexander Rublev got a walkover and booked his plac in the final where he will face Ugo Humbert in the title clash.
'Doubt Andrey said something crazy': Alexander Bublik
Alexander Bublik doubted whether Andrey Rublev said something crazy to line judge, resulting in his disqualification from the Dubai Tennis Championships. The Kazakhstan player believes that the semifinal against Rublev could've been one of the greatest matches.
"I highly doubt Andrey said something crazy. He's not this kind of guy. But I guess that's the rules. That's what they did, they just followed the procedure." Bublik told reporters after the match.
"There's not much to say. With all due respect, it was a great match and both of us deserved to win. The crowd was there and we could have played one of the greatest matches against each other. It's a pity it ended like this.
"I wish Andrey to get back on track as soon as possible." he added.
Following the disqualification, Andrey Rublev will slip out of top 5 when the ATP Rankings will be updated after Dubai Tennis Championships on Monday.
