‘Good guy’ Andrey Rublev told ‘what he did was unacceptable’ as ‘he crossed a line and went too far’

Shahida Jacobs 06 Mar 2024 10:24 AM

Supervisor Roland Herfel, left, disqualifies Andrey Rublev during his semi final match with Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

Sky Sports tennis host Gigi Salmon believes the tennis community “shouldn’t be surprised” by Andrey Rublev’s default in Dubai as his “outbursts have been getting more frequent in recent times”.

Rublev was handed the first default of his career following a controversial incident late in the third set of his semi-final clash against Alexander Bublik at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Friday.

Down 5-6 on serve, the Russian exploded after a forehand from Bublik was declared in with the chair umpire sticking with the line judge’s original call.

The 26-year-old screamed in the direction of the line judge and was accused of swearing at the official in his native language.

Although Rublev denied that he used lewd and offensive language, he was disqualified following a lengthy discussion with ATP supervisor Roland Herfel.

Salmon says Rublev was out of order and he should know that “actions have consequences”.

READ MORE: Seven active players who have been defaulted in men’s tennis as Andrey Rublev joins Novak Djokovic on the list

In her Sky Sports column, Salmon wrote: “In the 11th game, he lost a point to go 5-6 down on serve and took umbridge at a mid-point forehand that he believed to be long, but the call never came.

“What followed led to discussions on social media and within the tennis community about what he did or didn’t say, what language he used, Russian or English, and was a default warranted?

“But regardless of any of those things, what Rublev did was unacceptable. He crossed a line and went too far and as I say to my eight-year-old twins all the time, ‘actions have consequences’.”

Rublev’s punishment though was not as harsh as initially thought it would be as the ATP fined him $36,000 and allowed him to keep his ranking points and some of his prize money.

Salmon described Rublev as a “good guy”, but feels he is yet to get his anger issues under control.

She added: “Those consequences have lessened in severity as on appeal the ATP has reinstated Rublev’s semi-final points, together with the majority of his prize money, meaning that he holds on to his place in the top 5, with the initial punishment concluded to be ‘disproportionate in this case’.”

“Rublev is one of the good guys but his Achilles heel is the anger he displays on court, whether aimed at himself or others and at times his lack of belief in himself, which side by side isn’t a good combination.

“And maybe we shouldn’t be surprised as his outbursts have been getting more frequent in recent times, all because of a call that turns out to have been the right one.”