“Did not warrant a default,” Nick Kyrgios voices support for Andrey Rublev as he applauds Alexander Bublik’s ‘class’

Nick Kyrgios shares his opinion on Rublev's disqualification from the semi final match in Dubai.

“Did not warrant a default,” Nick Kyrgios voices support for Andrey Rublev as he applauds Alexander Bublik’s ‘class’

(L) Andrey Rublev; (R) Nick Kyrgios (via Imago)

A huge drama came to light at the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships when Russian Andrey Rublev had to face up against Alexander Bublik for a spot in the finals. The intense match got the fans gripped to their seats, but the ending had everyone turn sour. 

Two extremely talented players were pushing one another at every point, taking each set to the tie-break. Both the players had one set to their name after some breathtaking performances in the match. The score was 7-6(4), 6(5)-7, as the match went on to the third and deciding set. 

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Fighting for every point, the players went all out in the deciding set. Bublik was in the lead in the last set, 6-5, when Rublev lost his cool and shouted at the line umpire for a wrong call. He was extremely unhappy with the call and took the frustration out on the umpire. 

FS Video

It was not long before Rublev had to be disqualified for violating the rules, sending Bublik into the finals. Although the Kazakhstani was fine with it, and asked the umpire to continue the match, the officials had no choice but to default Rublev. 

Tennis “Bad Boy” Nick Kyrgios shared his opinion on this matter, as he praised Bublik for his sportsmanship while voicing his support for Rublev. 

Class from Bublik, saying he wanted to continue. Respect. Feel for Rublev. Did not warrant a default.
Kyrgios on X

Alexander Bublik was left stunned after an entertaining match got called off as Rublev was defaulted

Caught in a feud over a wrong call, Rublev was seen losing his cool and yelling at the line judge. Soon, the officials had to walk out and default the player over obscenity. Even though Bublik was stunned, and requested to let his opponent play, the officials had to call off the match, handing the Kazakhstani the win. 

Andrey Rublev Default
Andrey Rublev being defaulted (Via Imago)

During the post-match interview, Bublik was asked about the incident, and surprisingly, he voiced support for the Russian. 

It's tennis because of the players because we are playing this sport, not the opposite way around. We can take any umpire away and that would solve many issues.
Bublik

He reckons that the sport is because of the players, and it doesn’t make sense to take off the players during the match. Instead, he suggested that the tournaments should take out line judges and replace them with electronic ones. 

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