Andrey Rublev's default at this year's Dubai Championships will come at a cost, with the Russian star set to forfeit the entire prize money he was due to receive from the tournament.
Rublev was in a tight battle with Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik in the semifinal on Friday. The pair had exchanged the first two sets, but Rublev upped the ante midway through the deciding set and took a 4-2 lead.
With the finish line in sight, Rublev had a chance to put the match to bed when he was presented with a routine smash while leading 40-0 on Bublik's serve. Had he converted that point, then he would have led 5-2 and would have served for the match.
Instead, he netted the smash, and Bublik miraculously held serve and won three of the next four games. It was during the 11th game when all hell broke loose. Rublev lost control of his emotions and was accused of swearing at the line judge.
The 26-year-old believed that one of Bublik's shots during the closing stages of the set was out but called in. The chair umpire was informed of Rublev's foul-mouth actions and, together with the supervisor, agreed to disqualify the former champion.
Rublev's protests fell on deaf ears, and he spoke about the incident after the match, saying that he never used foul language despite his visible on-court frustration.
Because the match ended in default, Rublev will lose the 180 ranking points he would have received had he lost the match fairly. That will affect his world ranking on Monday because he will drop to sixth place.
Additionally, semifinalists in Dubai are usually remunerated handsomely to the tune of $157,755. Rublev will also miss out on that paycheck. But he's unlikely to lose any sleep over it. The Russian has earned over $20 million in career earnings since turning professional in 2014.
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