James Tong, Journalism, ‘25
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) announced yesterday that Russian tennis player, Andrey Rublev, won his appeal after being defaulted in his match Friday and losing ranking points and prize money. Rublev, 26, will be reinstated his ranking points as well as obtain his prize money from the tournament. While he keeps his ranking points and obtains the prize money, Rublev will need to pay a fine of $36,400. The rule basically says that when a player is defaulted due to their court conduct, the player relinquishes all money and rankings points earned in that event.
In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), the Russian tennis star thanked the appeal committee for their decision. He also added that he wants the tour to look over and potentially alter the rule that led to his default.
“I hope that in the future, the ATP will take a closer look at this rule and make changes to it, so that an official can’t force a match outcome without having clear evidence and not letting the player have a video review,” the post read.
— Andrey Rublev (@AndreyRublev97) March 4, 2024
Rublev, who is ranked No. 5, was disqualified in Dubai for unsportsmanlike conduct in his semifinal match against Kazakhstani tennis player, Alexander Bublik on Friday. Rublev was visibly upset and screamed in his native language in the face of one of the line judges. While it wasn’t specified whether or not the line judge he berated spoke Russian or not, another official told ATP supervisor, Roland Herfel, that Rublev used profane language towards the line judge. The call that prompted Rublev to react in such a manner was without question a pivotal point in the match, one that cost him a game.
In the ATP, players are only allowed to talk any way they want with their team who are located in close proximity to the court. They are also able to discuss and question calls with line judges and chair umpires, but need to be careful with how they speak to any of the officials.
While it is unclear exactly what Rublev said to the line judge, his interaction with Herfel was able to be heard.
“I was talking to him in English,” Rublev claimed, along with not using any profanity. Unfortunately, Herfel had to rely on the other official for the matter.
“If he says it,” Herfel can be heard saying in his explanation to Rublev.
Rublev also claimed that “I can see that he was talking bad ways in English,” most likely referring to the line judge. Herfel only cited the Russian-speaking official who claimed to have heard Rublev swear in Russian.
It went back and forth between the two with the official speaking when prompted by Herfel. It ultimately became a “he said she said” type of interaction that got Rublev nowhere except for off the court.
After getting handed his default, Rublev attempted to argue his case and continuously claimed that he didn’t say the words the official claims he said. The fact is that Herfel had to fall back on another official that spoke Russian, but only took his words into consideration, seemingly disregarding Rublev’s claims that he said no such things. Herfel can even be heard saying, “He’s a Russian speaking guy, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
After the default was issued verbally, the crowd let down a rain of “boos,” showcasing their disapproval that the match would end in a dull way despite the masterclass display from the two players.
Once the official notice came over the speakers that the default was issued to Rublev, he went over to where Herfel was walking and continued to ask him to check the cameras before he trusted the word of the official. Herfel simply told him that he already trusted the official.
At the time, the score was 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-5, meaning Bublik only needed one more game to win, while Rublev was about to serve.
Bublik is known to be a player who is unpredictable due to his nature to have fun during his matches and pulls out trickshots during play. He was seen confused after Rublev and Herfel were done talking, and after the official notice that Rublev was defaulted, he said that he could still play and finish the match. He said this twice, once immediately after the default was issued and the other when Rublev went to Herfel, Bublik came up as well and repeated that he was able to continue playing. Herfel quickly shut that down and the match ended, leaving the two players, commentators and viewers in disbelief.
Bublik went on to lose the in the final in straight sets to 25-year-old French player, Ugo Humbert. But the biggest story that came out of the tournament wasn’t the finals, but the situation being discussed here.
This situation as a whole raised some concerns, it also raised the question as to why the team of officials couldn’t look over the tape again and Herfel trusting the other official so much that he disregarded what Rublev said. It has brought back the discussion of whether or not tennis needs VAR (Video Assistant Referee), or a video review system. Fellow professional player and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) No. 12, Daria Kasatkina, went to X on the matter.
“So you can just default a player, take his points and money away, without even checking a video replay???” She wrote. “What a joke, another confirmation we need a VAR in tennis and electronic line calling on all tournaments.”
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
— Daria Kasatkina (@DKasatkina) March 1, 2024
Kasatkina went on to clarify that this does not excuse Rublev for his actions on court.
“I didn’t said that he is right,” she replied in a comment to her post. “What I’m saying is that the supervisor has to have a 100% confirmation in front of his eyes before making such a decision.”