By Grace Wang
World number five and Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev was defaulted in the semifinals of the ATP Dubai Championships after supposedly yelling obscenities at a line judge. During Rublev’s semifinal match against Alexander Bublik, the score was dead even in the third set at 5 games all when Bublik won a key point to consolidate the game to pull ahead at 6 games to 5 in favor of Bublik. Rublev believed that a shot hit by his opponent was out, causing him to lose a key game, and consequently, screamed at the line judge for not calling the ball out. Nearby, a Russian speaking official, heard Rublev’s outburst reported to the umpire that Rublev screamed obscenities in Russian to the line judge. Following this claim, the umpire and match supervisor then defaulted Rublev for unsportsmanlike conduct, although Rublev repeatedly insisted that he didn’t even speak in Russian to the line judge; Bublik also asked if the match could be continued. Rublev was then forced to forfeit all of his prize money won from the tournament and ranking points.
