Spanish tennis player Alejandro Davidovich Fokina took to X to talk about the controversial case of Andrey Rublev being defaulted from the 2024 Dubai Open for shouting at the line judge during the second semi-final between him and Alexander Bublik. The Spaniard is totally in support of Rublev and said that the decision to default him was totally wrong. He also suggested that tennis should have VAR, just like soccer.
Like many other fans, Davidovich Fokina is also of the opinion that there was clearly a misunderstanding on the part of the line judge due to a language barrier, which led to the extreme decision by the officials. Thus, Rublev being defaulted on the grounds of a clear case of misunderstanding was a bit uncalled for as per the Spaniard.
Very unfair that they disqualify Rublev without first ensuring that what the line judge understood is correct. That rule should be reviewed and changed. Shameful. We need VAR in tennis.
As a consequence of this, Andrey Rublev will not only lose all the prize money and points that he earned during the competition, but he also lost the opportunity to make it to the final of the Dubai Open, which, according to Davidovich Fokina, was clearly unjust.
What he did wasn't right, but taking away all the prize money and points without any proof of what the line judge said to the referee was correct seems unfair.
Andrey Rublev gets defaulted for shouting at the line judge
The Russian is pretty well known for his sudden fits of anger outburst during matches and something similar took place in the match between him and Alexander Bublik. However, this time, he had his reasons for being so passionate and angry.
The match between Rublev and Bublik was slowly becoming one of the most closely contested matches in the tournament. The first two sets were both decided in tie-breaks. Rublev won the first set, while Bublik won the second. In the third set, the two were 5-5 again and at this point, they started a sensational rally.
One of Bublik’s shots landed outside the baseline during the rally and it went unnoticed. However, Rublev continued to play and after a while, one of his shots landed outside the baseline in Bublik’s court and this time the chair umpire gave the point and the game to the Kazakh.
This infuriated the Russian and he started protesting about Bublik’s shot that landed outside during the rally. In the process, he went really close to the line judge’s face and shouted with hand gestures for at least 8-10 seconds. After a heated argument with the match officials regarding the incident, he was defaulted and Alexander Bublik automatically won the match.
More must-reads: