“Andrey said something crazy,” Alexander Bublik reveals what really went down with Andrey Rublev and the line judge amidst controversies

Rublev was defaulted from his semifinal match of the Dubai Open against Alexander Bublik in the third set.

“Andrey said something crazy,” Alexander Bublik reveals what really went down with Andrey Rublev and the line judge amidst controversies

Alexander Bublik (L), Andrey Rublev (R) (Sources: Twitter, IMAGO)

The most shocking thing happened today in the second semifinal of the 2024 Dubai Open when Russian player Andrey Rublev defaulted in the third set due to his ‘unruly’ behavior with the line judge.

The decision has been the topic of much controversy on social media already and now Rublev’s opponent, Alexander Bublik has also given his opinion about the situation. 

YouTube video

The match between Bublik and Rublev was one of the most closely contested matches in the tournament so far. Rublev won the first set, while Bublik won the second set, and both of those sets were decided in tiebreaks. Thus, when the two players were 5-5 in the third set, things became very intense, and it led to a great rally. 

FS Video

When the two were contesting the 11th game, one of Alexander Bublik’s shots landed outside the baseline. However, Andrey Rublev continued to play and, in the process, ended up hitting a shot that landed outside the court in Bublik’s part of the court, after which the chair umpire gave the point and the game to Bublik. 

This infuriated Andrey Rublev, and he shouted at the line judge’s face for at least 8–10 seconds and made hand gestures. Following this, the officials had a long and heated argument with the Russian and eventually decided to default on him. 

In the post-match conference, Alexander Bublik said that there was surely a language barrier that led to Rublev’s default because he couldn’t have said something so crazy. 

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 follow up the procedure. It's a pity it's ended like this. You're fighting for 3 hrs, then this happens. You're bad in the media, which I hate. We can easily take away umpires but not players.
The Kazakh said
https://twitter.com/ReemAbulleil/status/1763608663317455184?t=0rVTrU1zdyE6yd3xpmfjJQ&s=19

Andrey Rublev’s sensational run in the Dubai Open comes to a tragic end 

Andrey Rublev, who was the defending champion of the Dubai Open and the second seed in the tournament, played well in the entire tournament, and to see that he got eliminated from the semis in such a way is indeed very disappointing. 

Andrey Rublev
Andrey Rublev(Via Imago)

He defeated Zhang Zhizhen, Arthur Cazaux, and Sebastian Korda pretty convincingly to make it to the semis. 

Given the fact that his performances in the Australian Open, ATP Rotterdam, and Qatar Open were not so great, this was his opportunity to redeem himself, and he did that to a great extent.

The Russian has been a subject of scrutiny for his sudden anger outbursts during matches before, and this is another wake-up call for World No. 5. 

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