Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev was disqualified in the semi-finals of the ATP tournament in Dubai.
In his semi-final match against Alexander Bublik (Kazakhstan), number two Rublev fell behind 5:6 in the decisive third set and apparently verbally attacked a lines judge in Russian.
After minutes of discussion with other match officials, chair referee Miriam Bley announced Rublev’s disqualification.
Rublev insisted that he spoke English, but that didn’t help him, nor did his opponent’s positive influence. In a video on Platform X, Bublik could be heard affirming: “I’m ready to keep playing.”
Bublik also had several discussions with the chair umpire during the final set. At the time of the disqualification it was 7:6 (7:4), 6:7 (5:7), 6:5 for Bublik. In the final he will face the Russian Daniil Medvedev or Ugo Humbert from France.