The world No 5 Andrey 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 fiery Russian was losing 6-5 in the third set against Alexander Bublik and lashed out at a line judge in his frustration.
Roland Herfel, the ATP supervisor, arrived at the court with a Russian interpreter. The interpreter had claimed that Rublev had used offensive language in his native tongue. Rublev objected and maintained that he was speaking in English, which was supported by Bublik.
Rublev insisted, “I did not use the profanity. I swear on God. This is significant. I swear on God.”
The first occurrence of the offense typically results in a warning, but the umpire Miriam Bley defaulted the 26-year-old amidst dissent from spectators in Dubai. The match ended in a controversial manner, with Kazakhstan’s Bublik advancing to the final with a score of 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-5.
In Acapulco, Jack Draper easily advanced to the semi-finals of the Mexican Open, defeating Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2, 6-2. Despite only being three spots above his opponent in the world rankings at 50, Draper dominated the match with a large margin.
Draper managed to win against Kecmanovic in the third game of the first set and achieved the same thing again to gain a 4-1 advantage, eventually winning the opening set in just 31 minutes.
In the beginning of the second set, there was a closer match as the first four games were evenly played and Draper was able to save a break point and tie the score at 2-2. After that, Draper took charge and secured his fourth break point in the fifth game, as well as a double break to take a 5-2 lead. He then served a perfect final game, earning him a spot in the semi-finals after 80 minutes of play.
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In January, Draper defeated both Kecmanovic and Tommy Paul, an American, in the opening match in Acapulco, and advanced to the final in Adelaide. In the semi-final, he will face the defending champion, Alex de Minaur from Australia. After 11 previous failed attempts, the world’s 9th ranked player managed to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece, coming back from a set down to win 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.
