Andrey Rublev demands change as ATP Tour deliver punishment for Dubai disqualification

Andrey Rublev has broken his silence following his stunning disqualification from the Dubai Tennis Championship after the ATP Tour announced the outcome of their investigation into the incident.

The fiery Russian was trailing 6-5 in the third against Alexander Bublik when he appeared to say something to the line judge, with the words used in that exchange the subject of heated debate in recent days.

ATP supervisor Roland Herfel came down to the court accompanied by a Russian speaker, who claimed Rublev had sworn in his native language.

Rublev protested, insisting he was speaking in English, while Bublik also backed his opponent.

“I didn’t say ‘f******’. I swear to God. This is huge. I swear to God,” said Rublev.

The offence would usually merit a warning in the first instance, but the 26-year-old was defaulted by umpire Miriam Bley amid jeers from the crowd in Dubai.

Rublev’s angry outburst at the line judge led many observers to conclude the right decision was made to end his participation in the tournament.

Yet he also received plenty of support from fellow players and ex-players, who suggested the severity of the punishment was too much.

With Rublev continuing to insist he did not use the abusive words he was alleged to have muttered, the ATP Tour has now come down on his side with their verdict on the incident.

READ MORE: Andrey Rublev’s surprise ATP punishment revealed after stunning Dubai disqualification

Players who are defaulted for poor behaviour can expect to lose their prize money and ranking points from the tournament in question, but the ATP have come up with a different conclusion.

They have fined Rublev $36,000 and allowed him to keep his ranking points, with the Russian expressing his gratitude for the ATP’s appeal process as he posted this message on his social media platforms.

“I want to thank the appeal committee for approving my appeal and changing course on the ATPs initial decision of disqualifying me from the Dubai semifinal and taking away the rankings points and prize money I earned last week,” he stated.

“I hope that in the future, the ATP will take a closer look at this rule and make changes to it, so that an official can’t force a match outcome without having clear evidence and not letting the player have a video review.

“While I am disappointed that I wasn’t able to finish my semifinal in Dubai, I am grateful for all the support I had from you the last two days, I received a lot of messages.

“Thank you to everyone supporting me, I promise I will learn from this and will try to be a better player and better person.”

Rublev’s call for change will not go unnoticed, as he continues to protest his innocence and his comments are not without merit.

You may not agree with his behaviour berating the official in the manner that led to his default, but he was thrown out of the competition for comments he may not have made.

There was no video or audio evidence that he swore at the lines person in Russian and that was the reason for his expulsion from the match.

That means the decision that was made in Dubai lacked substantive evidence and the ATP Tour believe Rublev has been punished enough by being thrown out of a tournament that could have given him one of the biggest wins of his career.

The player also needs to take responsibility for putting himself in a position to be removed from the tournament, with his anger management issue continuing to be a factor holding him back.

“You work on it every day,” Rublev told Tennis365 when we asked him about his anger issues last December.

“There are many things in life that are stressing us out and make us very angry.

“You can practise how to be calm when you want to explode everything. Then my coach has the psychology lessons.

“I have lost some matches because of myself. That is the reality and that makes it harder.

“To play your best you need a clear mind, but my emotions don’t always let me do that. I know I need to work on it, but it is not easy.”

“In the bigger matches, when you want it most, that is when it is hard to control emotions.”