Andrey Rublev was disqualified from the Dubai Tennis Championships on Friday in a surreal scene in which he was accused of swearing at an official in Russian and denied having done so.
Rublev, the fifth-ranked player in the world, was down, 6-5, in the decisive third set to Alexander Bublik in the semifinals of the tournament and confronted a line judge during the changeover, berating him about a ball that he believed Bublik had hit out.
Rublev was arguing with two officials, one of whom spoke Russian.
The one who spoke Russian told the other that Rublev had said “f–king” during his tirade in his native language, and Rublev insisted this was not true.
“I didn’t say f–king. What do you mean f–king?” Rublev asked incessantly in English.
“This is a huge [misunderstanding]. I swear to God. I didn’t say it!”
After the chair umpire announced that Rublev had been disqualified, Bublik was perplexed.
“I’m OK to continue!” Bublik protested, and he appered to ask Rublev what happened.
Rublev had won the first set in a tiebreaker, and Bublik won the second, also in a tiebreaker.
After the disqualification, Rublev began packing up his gear in disgust, as the crowd booed vociferously that they would not get to see the culmination of the thrilling match.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like that,” the TV announcer said, as his broadcast partner concurred: “I am in shock.”
Bublik will face the winner of the other semifinal matchup, Daniil Medvedev versus Ugo Humbert.