Andrey Rublev was sensationally defaulted after screaming in the face of a line judge during his heated semi-final clash with Alexander Bublik in Dubai on Friday.
In a chaotic match where both semi-finalists fumed at the officials, Rublev was defaulted by the chair umpire for unsportsmanlike conduct.
ATP supervisor Roland Herfel was called on the court where he spoke with the line judge before disqualifying Rublev with Bublik leading 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-5.
Rublev will lose all his points and prize money from this week and will leave the top five in the world following his disqualification.
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Bublik repeatedly smashed his racket followed by a heated argument with the umpire during the match
Daria Kasatkina came to the defence of Rublev on social media by calling for video technology to be introduced into the sport.
“So you can just default a player, take his points and money away, without even checking a video replay??? What a joke, another confirmation we need a VAR in tennis and electronic line calling on all tournaments,” she said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The result ensured there would be no repeat of last year’s final where Rublev lost to Daniil Medvedev.
The top seeded Medvedev will face fifth-seeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert in the other last-four clash later.
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