Andrey Rublev screamed at a lines judge after disagreeing with a call in last year’s semi-final (Image: Getty)
Andrey Rublev returned to the Dubai Championships this week – a year after he was
The world No. 9 hit the headlines 12 months ago as he was defaulted at a crucial moment in his semi-final match, allowing his opponent to advance to the championship match.
Rublev was serving to force a final set tiebreak when he was forced to forfeit the match. He appealed his penalty and
The Russian has since left the controversial incident in the past.
“I’ve forgotten,” Rublev said when he arrived in Dubai at the start of the week. “To be honest, I don’t know if it sounds good or bad, but it didn’t bother me.”
While the Russian is no longer bothered by the incident, it overshadowed last year’s tournament. Rublev found himself locked in a battle with Alexander Bublik in their semi-final match.
Bublik held to lead 6-5 in the decisive final set. It meant Rublev’s only hope was to hold serve and force a tiebreak. But he didn’t get the opportunity to keep himself in the match.
After the Kazakh closed out the game, Rublev stormed over to a line judge, seemingly furious about a call earlier in the game.
Andrey Rublev claimed he wasn’t speaking Russian when he was said to have sworn at a lines judge (Image: Getty)
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He screamed and ranted, waving his arms towards the linesperson in question. Another official approached chair umpire Miriam Bley and supervisor Roland Herfel, informing them that Rublev swore in Russian.
The supervisor confronted Rublev and immediately defaulted him for unsportsmanlike conduct. The 27-year-old argued that, not only did he not swear, but that he hadn’t been speaking Russian at all.
Bublik indicated that he was happy to continue the match and wanted Rublev to continue serving at 5-6 but the decision was made, and the Kazakh advanced to the final.
When a player is defaulted from a tournament, they lose their ranking points and prize money. But Rublev was able to successfully appeal to the ATP, maintaining that he was not speaking Russian at the time.
The tour accepted that a full sanction would have been “disproportionate” and returned Rublev’s £120k in prize money, and the 200 ranking points that he earned for reaching the semis.
The world No. 9 still had to pay a £28,700 fine for his code violation.
As for Bublik, the world No. 51 suffered a 6-4 6-3 defeat at the hands of Ugo Humbert in the championship match.
It was a different story for both men this year. Rublev and Bublik both lost their opening matches in Dubai, with the Russian going out to qualifier Quentin Halys while Bublik