It's been over a month since Andrey Rublev was defaulted during a match in Dubai for his behavior, and he has since opened up about the lessons he learned from the ordeal.
In February, Rublev became the first high-profile player to be disqualified from an ATP tournament since Alexander Zverev (2022 Mexican Open) for an on-court outburst. The Russian was engaged in a physically brutal match against Alexander Bublik in the semifinal of the tournament.
Deep in the third set, the 26-year-old suddenly lost control of his emotions and shouted at a line judge for failing to spot that one of Bublik's shots was out. His behavior landed him in hot water because another line judge sitting close by alleged to have heard Rublev's use of obscenity in his mother tongue.
He was reported to the chair umpire, and the supervisor was called. A decision was made to disqualify Rublev from the match. Bublik progressed into the final, where he lost to Ugo Humbert, while Rublev was initially expected to forfeit his entire prize money and points from the tournament.
However, he appealed the sanction, and he won his case, though the ATP ruled that a fine of $36,420 for his behavior would still be in place after the umpire gave him a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct prior to the default.
The World No. 6 recently spoke with Russian outlet Sport Express, and he was remorseful. Rublev opined that it is "inadmissible" to shout at an official or any person for that matter, but he called for rules to be revised following the despicable incident.
"That, of course, in any case, it is inadmissible to raise your voice at a line judge, or at anyone at all. At a spectator, a chair umpire, a lineman, or some other employee. You shouldn't raise your voice at all. This is wrong, unacceptable and disrespectful. And this is even banal bad manners. I learned both this and the fact that some changes in the rules are still needed."
The tennis world rallied behind, especially his fellow players. However, several fans and tennis experts felt it was uncalled for to react in the manner he did. Rublev argued that VAR technology, which is currently in place in soccer, might help if used in tennis but would still leave a gap for disputes to arise.
"This is one of the options, but the decision should be made by people who understand this. Because there are a lot of double standards."
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