Andrey Rublev was defaulted in a semifinals match against Alexander Bublik during the Dubai Championship for yelling at a line judge. The default means that Bublik advances to the finals while Rublev was eliminated from the tournament.
The match between Rublev and Bublik was tied at one set apiece, deep into the third and final set. Rublev was upset that a Bublik shot was called in play, leading to Bublik taking a 6–5 lead in the third set, and Rublev went on to scream at the line judge on his side of the court.
An ATP supervisor spoke with Rublev after a Russian-speaking official accused Rublev of swearing in Russian, Rublev’s native language. While Rublev claimed he yelled in English and did not swear, and even though Bublik had no issues continuing the match, the umpire defaulted Rublev from the match.
Andrey Rublev is defaulted from the Dubai semi-final, sending Alexander Bublik through to the #DDFTennis final pic.twitter.com/tclfcXxDYY
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 1, 2024
After the match, Bublik said he doesn’t believe Rublev said anything over-the-top.
“I highly doubt Andrey said something crazy,” Bublik said, via ESPN. “He’s not this kind of guy. But I guess that’s the rules. That’s what they did, they just follow the procedure.”
Rublev entered the tournament as the No. 2 overall seed and won three matches to face the No. 7 seeded Bublik in the semis. Bublik, who already has one tournament win this year, will face No. 5 seed Ugo Hambert in the Dubai Championship Finals.
