By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Monday, March 4, 2024
Andrey Rublev's appeal ability is more effective than his argumentative skills.
The fifth-ranked Rublev has prevailed in his appeal the penalties incurred after his Dubai default on Friday.
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The ATP has ruled Rublev will retain all ranking points as well as the $157,755 in prize money he earned for his semifinal result at last week's Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The $36,400 fine for the unsportsmanlike conduct code violation Rublev was hit with remains in place after the appeal, which included testimonies from players and officials and a review of video and audio of the incident.
The ATP said the penalty was “disproportionate” to the incident, which is why its appeals committee decided to restore ranking points and prize money to Rublev, the 2023 Dubai finalist.
"The appeals committee concluded that, beyond forfeiting the match, customary penalties associated with a default – namely loss of rankings points and prize money for the entire tournament – would be disproportionate in this case," the ATP said in a statement.
It's a key ruling for Rublev in that he retains his Top 5 spot in the ATP Live rankings whereas if he had forfeited his Dubai ranking points, as he was facing under his initial default, then Alexander Zverev would have passed him for the No. 5 spot in the rankings.
In a stunning turn of events, Rublev was defaulted for an unsportsmanlike conduct code violation right before he was set to serve to try to force a third-set tiebreaker in the Dubai semifinals.
Alexander Bublik led 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-5 when the referee informed Rublev he was being defaulted for berating the linesman, allegedly using profanity in Russian.
A stunned Rublev repeatedly denied he spoke Russian during the exchange.
"I was not talking Russian!" Rublev said. "I swear to God. This is a whole mistake. I swear to God."
Trying to lend a helping hand to his buddy, Bublik offered to complete the match.
"I am okay to continue," Bublik said.
"The match is over," the referee replied.
Photo credit: Christopher Pike/Getty