Former ATP player Jimmy Connors sided with Andrey Rublev regarding the Dubai Championships incident, suggesting his "voice was taken away."
Jimmy Connors was one of those players similar to John McEnroe, who would often clash with umpires during his matches. The former player sees it somewhat as an essential part of the sport because a player has a right to his voice.
A player should have the right to voice their displeasure or dispute a call, which is why he feels strongly about what happened at the ATP 500 tournament in Dubai recently.
Andrey Rublev screamed at a line umpire and even got into his face, resulting in a default. Connors has an issue with that because it was a straight default, with no warning or discussion, and he feels like it's taking away a player's voice. He talked about it in the latest episode of his Advantage Connors podcast.
"[To] default them, you know, not give them a warning, not give them a point penalty, but just saying, 'You're done'... I'm passionate about this, only because they've taken away the voice of a player."
"They've totally taken his voice away, you know, to where he has to go and conform to whatever has been thrown at him. You know, 'the ball was out', I can't question it... you can't question that, you just gotta go along with that."
For Connors, questioning seems to be an essential part of tennis. It's why he feels so strongly about this incident, but there are ways to do it.
Rublev's behavior was out of line by all standards. Another thing Connors disliked was the umpire reporting on Rublev. Many actually believe that was the cause of the default and not the screaming episode.
"That's what it's come down to, where is there to go but in reverse? If you're bringing guys, 'I'm gonna snitch on you, you better not say anything, I want to tell on you. Jesus Christ, that's back in the second grade! The hell's going on here? These guys are out there playing their a** off for three hours, 6-5 in the third set, and you got somebody coming out of the stands saying... oh my god!"
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