"I've apologized several times...it's unacceptable to behave like that" - Andrey Rublev opens up about Dubai altercation and disqualification
Andrey Rublev recently discussed his verbal dispute with a line judge at the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships, which resulted in his disqualification from the semifinal match.
Rublev was facing Alexander Bublik in the semifinal of the ATP 500 tournament on March 1, 2024. It was a high-voltage contest that saw the first two sets go to tiebreakers.
The third set was equally intense, but at 6-5, Andrey Rublev lost his cool. He went off on the line umpire over what he thought was a long shot that was not called out.
The Russian screamed at the lineperson, who approached the chair umpire and complained that Rublev had cursed at him in Russian. Rublev was subsequently disqualified from the match due to unsportsmanlike conduct, and he also lost his ranking points and prize money for the Dubai Tennis Championships.
However, the ranking points and prize money decision was subsequently overturned by the ATP.
Andrey Rublev recently talked about the incident with sports journalist and commentator Sofya Tartakova. The World No. 5 stated that he had apologized for his "unacceptable" conduct several times and admitted that he should have never raised his voice.
"Of course, I was disturbed, too. So, by now, I've apologized several times. No, not hard at all because it was my fault and it's unacceptable to behave like that, to raise my voice like that. No matter if it's a line judge, a fan, or just a regular person. I am no one to allow myself such things doesn't matter if a person has been correct or not," Rublev said.
"Such things are unacceptable in general, it's disrespectful. So of course, I feel guilty about it, and I'm ashamed that I allowed myself to do such things. To be honest, I have been allowing myself similar things many times before that incident," he continued.
Andrey Rublev on backlash after Dubai altercation - "It was difficult because I was being accused of things I didn't do"
Andrey Rublev received a lot of flak from tennis fans for his altercation with the line umpire, and he addressed that too with Sofya Tartakova.
The Russian stated it was difficult for him to deal with the backlash as he was accused of doing things that he never did. Moreover, he found it unacceptable that he was punished for something he didn't do.
"It was also difficult because I was being accused of things I didn't do. Of the words that I didn't say. I talked to them, it was all discussed and watched, then, after the discussion you suddenly see that they've added even more words that you didn't say," Rublev said.
"I wasn't even offended. I just didn't understand how, we've talked it over, you can see it clearly, you can hear it clearly. I just wanted to be fair. At least punish me fairly for what I've really done. For screaming at a person, for swearing at a person. It was indeed unacceptable to punish me for that," he added.
The 26-year-old is set to continue his journey on the 2024 ATP Tour at the Indian Wells Open. He is seeded No. 5 at the ATP 1000 tournament and, after a first-round bye, will face Brit veteran Andy Murray in the second round on March 9.