World No. 5 Andrey Rublev has been significantly sidelined after being accused of insulting the line referee in the deciding set of the Dubai Open semi-finals.
The fiery Russian took out his frustrations on the linesman in the third game against Alexander Bublik after trailing 6-5.
ATP director Roland Hoefer came to the court accompanied by a Russian-speaker who claimed Rublev had taken the oath in his native language. Rublev protested, insisting he was speaking English, and Bublik backed his opponent.
“I didn’t say ‘asshole.’ I swear to God. This is huge. I swear to God,” Rublev said.
It’s an infringement that would normally have warranted a warning at the outset, but the 26-year-old was ruled out by referee Miriam Bley amid jeers from the Dubai crowd. This fierce match was full of controversy. Kazakh player Bublik advanced to the final with 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-5.
Meanwhile, Jack Draper earlier beat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2, 6-2 at the Mexican Open in Acapulco Reached the semifinals. The British No. 3 is three spots ahead of her world No. 50 opponent, but the gap between them has proven to be much wider on the court.
Draper broke Kekmanovic in the third game of the first set and won the first set on serve after 31 minutes, leading 4-1.
The competition between the two sides became more intense at the beginning of the second set. The first four games were all served in the service game. Draper tied the score at 2-2 after a break point. Draper took control from that moment on, taking the fifth game on his fourth break point and adding a double break to lead 5-2. He scored on serve in the final game, sealing his spot in the semi-finals within 80 minutes.
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Draper defeated Kekmanovic and American Tommy Paul in his first match in Acapulco before reaching the final in Adelaide in January. He will face defending champion Alex De Minaur of Australia in the semi-finals. The world number nine defeated Greece’s Tsitsipas for the first time in 11 matches, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, after dropping a set first.
