Alexander Bublik has leapt to the defence of Andrey Rublev, as he served up explosive comments claiming tennis ‘can take the umpire away’ amid a new call for electronic line calling in all tournaments.
World No 5 Rublev was sensationally defaulted after being accused of swearing at a line judge in the deciding set of his semi-final at the Dubai Open.
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.
Bublik had offered to continue the match even though he benefited from Rublev’s default, with his comments after the match suggesting he believed all tennis officials could be removed from the court and replaced with modern technology.
Electronic line calls will be introduced to all ATP tournaments in 2025, which will ensure incidents like the Rublev disqualification may also be eradicated from the game.
Now the always outspoken Bublik has called for that change to come in quicker, as he insisted Rublev received rough justice in Dubai.
“I highly doubt Andrey said something crazy. He’s not this kind of guy. But I guess that’s the rules. That’s what they did, they just follow the procedure,” Bublik told reporters.
“There’s not much to say. With all due respect, it was a great match and both of us deserved to win. The crowd was there and we could have played one of the greatest matches against each other. It’s a pity it ended like this.
“I wish Andrey to get back on track as soon as possible.
“I would have preferred to lose 7-6 in the third than to win the match like this.
“We could have played one of the greatest matches we played against each other in front of a packed crowd in Dubai. It’s a pity it’s ended like this.”
Bublik then went on to suggest umpires and line judges could be removed from tennis as he added: “We have this proof every week that when the tournament is with electronic line-calling, we don’t have these troubles.
“Players are not getting crazy. It’s our passion. We play for this. We live for this. We grew up dreaming of playing these stadiums.
“Then some guy who is working for three years as a line judge, staying there deciding something. Then you come up to a situation like this. Is it the fault of Andrey? Maybe. Is it the fault of the umpire? Maybe.
“If we take the umpire out, we cannot take off Andrey. That is the thing. We cannot take off players. Players will be there. It’s tennis because of the players because we are playing this sport, not the opposite way around.
“We can take any umpire away — and that would solve many issues.”
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