Nick Kyrgios gives his verdict on Andrey Rublev’s sensational Dubai disqualification

Kevin Palmer
Andrey Rublev has launched a new clothing range
Andrey Rublev has launched a new clothing range

The fall-out from Andrey Rublev’s sensational disqualification from the Dubai Open continues, with Nick Kyrgios joining the debate over a story that has rocked tennis.

Rublev was defaulted after being accused of swearing at a line judge in the deciding set of his semi-final at the Dubai Open, after he prostested his innocense in a story that has sparked a huge debate in the world’s sporting community.

The combustible Russian was trailing 6-5 in the third against Alexander Bublik when he appeared to say something to the line judge.

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.

Fellow Russian Daria Kasatkina, the world number 12, called the disqualification “a joke”.

She wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “So you can just default a player, take his points and money away, without even checking a video replay???

“What a joke, another confirmation we need a VAR in tennis and electronic line calling on all tournaments.”

READ MORE: WATCH: Angry Andrey Rublev thrown out of Dubai tournament amid amazing scenes

It was a controversial end to a tight match, with Kazakhstan’s Bublik progressing to the final 6-7 (4) 7-6 (5) 6-5.

Rublev is likely to lose all prize money and ranking points from the tournaments as a punishment for his actions, with Aussie firebrand Kyrgios offering sympathy to the Russian with this tweet:

Kyrgios has previously offered to help Rublev with his anger management on court, even though he admitted people would raise an eyebrow at one of the game’s biggest hotheads offering emotional support.

“I think he’s just got to be a bit nicer to himself,” said Kygios last year.

“I’ve said over and over again that he’s had a great season, won Monte Carlo. You look at all the past champions that won Monte Carlo, it’s an amazing accomplishment.

“So he went 0-3 against some pretty tough opponents (at the ATP Finals) but I don’t think he should go home super disappointed.

“I think he’s made three quarter-finals this year in the Grand Slams so I think moving into Australia he’s got to be in a good mindset moving forward.

“I mean, I’ll come fly to wherever he is and try to help him out mentally. I think I’ve got that down.”

Tennis365 asked Rublev for his reaction to that offer when we spoke to him at the UTS Grand Final in December.

“You work on it every day,” Rublev told Tennis365. “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 saw that Nick (Kyrgios) offered to help and that made me smile. Nick is a very talented player, one of the most talented players in tennis, so I can say we need him back because he brings a lot of fun to tennis.”

The ATP are now expected to start a disciplinary process following Rublev’s default, with past precedent suggesting he will face a fine and a loss of the ranking points he was due to collect from his run to the Dubai semi-finals.

While Rublev may be able to prove he did not use the swear word that saw him thrown out of the tournament in Dubai, his behaviour in screaming into the face of the line judge may have constructed an automatic default.

This is a story that is set to run and run, with Rublev yet to reveal what his next move will be as he prepares to fly to America to play in the ATP 1000 event at Indian Wells that gets underway next week.