London, 2 March 2024 (dpa/MIA) - World number five 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 on Friday.

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.

It was a controversial end to a tight match, with Kazakhstan’s Bublik progressing to the final

Fellow Russian Daria Kasatkina, the world number 12, called the disqualification “a joke”.

She wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “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.”

It was a controversial end to a tight match, with Kazakhstan’s Bublik progressing to the final, 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-5.

He will face Ugo Humbert after the Frenchman beat another Russian, defending champion Daniil Medvedev, 7-5 6-3.

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