Andrey Rublev is a pretty well-liked guy on the ATP Tour, as evidenced by the number of people who are defending him over the Dubai Championships incident.
The Russian is a pretty well-liked guy, not just by fellow players but also by tennis fans. He's a very nice person in general, which his colleagues often mention. Yet, he has a very explosive temper, which erupts often during matches.
Some of those eruptions are tamer than others, but for the most part, the Russian has a habit of doing some pretty extreme things. Cracking his knee open is certainly one of them, and the screaming incident in Dubai is another.
Despite his shocking behavior, quite a few of his colleagues have defended him over it. Notorious hot-head Jimmy Connors is another one who sees no problem with what Rublev did.
"Yeah, what's wrong with getting heated? What's wrong with that, you're putting everything that you have into what you're doing, you know, which is trying to win a tennis match against an opponent who's trying to kick your a** at the same time?"
"What's wrong with feeling that? And understanding that? And wanting more from yourself and understanding you're out there breaking your a**, and trying to give everything that you have?"
Jimmy Connors made a very passionate point, which is true, and yet there should be limits. Umpire errors have always been part of the game. It's not really realistic to expect that they're going to get everything right.
It's fair to complain about them, but if a tennis player can't play a match with an unforced error, then an umpire shouldn't be expected to call a match without errors.
In any case, shouting in somebody's face will never be acceptable. It can't, and that's why he was defaulted.
0 Comments