Andrey Rublev has called on the ATP Tour to change the rule that led to him being defaulted at the Dubai Tennis Championships last week. Rublev was defaulted by the chair umpire after a Russian-speaking official said he had used an obscenity while yelling at a line judge over a call during his semifinal with Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik on Friday.
Rublev denied the accusation and urged the officials to review video of the incident, a request that was rejected. Bublik was ahead 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-5 when he was awarded the win, but Rublev, the world's No. 5 player, later successfully appealed the decision and will retain the ranking points and prize money he earned, barring a fine of $36,400 for a code violation.
The appeals committee concluded that, beyond forfeiting the match, customary penalties associated with a default -- namely loss of rankings points and prize money for the entire tournament -- would be disproportionate in this case,' the ATP said in a statement Monday.
In a post on Instagram, Rublev thanked the appeals committee but said the rules needed a rethink. '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,' Rublev said.
While I'm disappointed that I wasn't able to finish my semi-final in Dubai, I am grateful for all the support I had from you the last two days, I received a lot of messages,' Rublev added.
The ATP had not responded to Reuters' request for comment on Rublev's request.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
