Andrey Rublev has been dominant at the Dubai Championships over the years, but this year, he was disqualified from the tournament.
Dubai has been one of the best events for Rublev in the past few years, as he won it two years ago and made the final of the ATP 500 tournament in the United Arab Emirates last year.
He could have been through to yet another final in the city as he got close to besting a very inspired Alexander Bublik. The match was predictably quite good, as Bublik proved to be a real challenge for the Russian.
He's got a trophy to his name already, and can add another one in Dubai. On the other hand, the Russian's run in Dubai has been quite good, with impressive showings like the one against Sebastian Korda.
This match was quite close because both were dominant on their serve, and there wasn't much separating them. Dubai plays rather fast, and both are a very aggressive player who prefers to win points on their own terms.
Bublik opened with an early break, but the Russian would break back to make it a tie. Eventually, the set ended up in a tie-break in which Rublev played a tiny bit better, winning it 7-4.
The second set was very similar in the sense that Bublik once again broke first, but once again, he couldn't really hold it. The second set would end up in yet another tie-break, and once again, it was Rublev who took the early lead, but this time around, Bublik amazed by battling back from 3-5 to win it 7-5.
In the third set, Rublev led 4-2 and 40-0 on Bublik's serve, seemingly inches away from the win. However, he got broken back, and didn't even get to serve out the match.
After he lost another game, to make it 6-5 for Bublik, it seemed that the third set would be decided in yet another tie-break. However, Rublev got upset with one of the line judges and shouted in his face for one of the previous line calls.
The line judge immediately ran to the chair umpire, sharing what was said, and as a result, the Russian player was defaulted from the match, sending Bublik into the final of the tournament.
As a result, Rublev will forfeit all of his points and prize money earned at the 2024 Dubai Championships.
0 Comments