ATP Dubai 2024, Rublev disqualified: he insulted a line judge

An insult to the line judge, then the disqualification. It’s the incredible episode that happened during the semifinal of the ATP 500 in Dubai. The protagonist – in a negative way – of the story is Andrey Rublev, playing against Alexander Bublik in the first semi-final. The Russian was disqualified one game from the decisive tiebreak: after the point that gave the momentary 6-5 to Bublik in the third set, Rublev addressed a series of insulting phrases to the line judge, guilty, according to him, of having judged a forehand from Bublik who was out to be good. Although Rublev spoke in Russian, the line judge understood the content of the words addressed to him and reported the incident to the supervisor, who could not help but disqualify Rublev. The Russian loses the prize money earned in Dubai, but above all the 300 points that he had been defending since 2023. Rublev will thus exit the top 5, giving way to Zverevwhich is among the top 5 in the world for the first time since August 2022.