Andrei Rublev got off as a slight moron

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) has decided to partially uphold the appeal of Russian Andrei Rublev, who was disqualified last Friday in the UAE for insulting a linesman during the semi-final match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The Russian kept all the ranking points he earned last week, which according to the rules he should have lost as a result of disqualification, as well as most of the prize money, and was fined $36.4 thousand. This punishment allowed him to remain in fifth place in the world ranking.

The decision of the Association of Tennis Professionals regarding Andrei Rublev’s appeal, filed after the Russian was disqualified during the semi-final of the Duty Free Tennis Championships against Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan for insulting a linesman, was not by chance expected with great interest in the tennis world. This incident not only attracted widespread attention, but also caused mixed reactions.

Let us recall that after the completion of the last point in the eleventh game of the third set, Rublev shouted at the line judge, who, in his opinion, made a mistake and looked at the out after Bublik’s hit. The Russian himself did not interrupt the game at the right moment, and according to the ATP rules, the played shot is not checked using an electronic system for recording the ball hit.

Another linesman, who knows Russian, told the chair umpire that Rublev used a Russian expression with the word “moron”, as a result of which the Russian was disqualified.

At the same time, a significant number of Rublev’s colleagues, including Bublik himself, the 21st racket of the world, the Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, the winner of four ATP titles, the American Riley Opelka, the strongest Russian tennis player Daria Kasatkina, the winner of two Grand Slam tournaments Svetlana Kuznetsova and others in one form or another expressed disagreement with this decision. Rublev himself, who according to ATP rules due to disqualification should have lost all prize and rating points earned at the tournament, filed an appeal, and in the end it was partially satisfied. The ATP notes that during the appeal process, not only the testimony of the athlete and officials was taken into account, but also video materials were studied.

“The Appeal Committee came to the conclusion that (Rublev’s) deprivation “Kommersant”) rating points and prize money earned at the tournament, in this case will be a disproportionate punishment,” said the ATP. As a result, the Russian retained the 200 points he received for reaching the semifinals, and thanks to this he remained in fifth place in the world rankings. True, he had to pay a fine: out of $157.7 thousand in prize money earned in Dubai, according to the decision of the ATP, he lost $36.4 thousand, that is, about 20% of the total amount.

The next tournament with the participation of Andrey Rublev will be the BNP Paribas Open – the first Masters 1000 competition in the ATP calendar this year with the participation of all the strongest tennis players in the world, which begins on Wednesday in Indian Wells. The Russian’s best result so far there is the semi-final in 2022, and last season he lost there in the 1/8 finals.

Evgeniy Fedyakov