Andy Roddick weighs in on Andrey Rublev's controversial Dubai disqualification: "A mistake was made on his end”

Andy Roddick recently commented on Andrey Rublev's controversial disqualification at the Dubai Tennis Championships, stating that the Russian made a mistake of his own.

Rublev was disqualified from a semifinal match against Alexander Bublik for allegedly yelling profanity at a line judge. The 26-year-old appealed to the disciplinary committee and will keep his ranking points and prize money, but a fine of $36,000 will be deducted.

On Tuesday, March 5, Andy Roddick expressed his opinion about the incident on his podcast, 'Served with Andy Roddick.' The former World No.1 stated that Rublev had put himself in a position to be judged.

"There he [Andrey Rublev] made himself to be put in a position to be judged and for someone to make a judgment call to get him defaulted. So whether or not we agree with it, a mistake was made on his end," Roddick said (at 5:25).

Roddick added that Andrey Rublev is one of the most loved guys on the ATP tour and acknowledged his commitment to improving as a player.

"He said he's gonna be a better person and a better player. From all accounts, he's a great person. He's one of the most likable guys on tour. I don't personally know him, but, 'I'm going to be a better player.' That's like a cool thing to be able to decide, right?" Roddick continued.

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Andy Roddick on Andrey Rublev's fine: "You can't take away money that's already been earned"

Andrey Rublev at Dubai \Tennis Championships

In the same podcast, Andy Roddick voiced his frustration regarding the decision to disqualify Rublev and strip him of his ranking points and prize money. Roddick emphasized that Rublev's actions didn't warrant a default, especially given that he had already won three matches.

"I personally don't think it warranted a default, but that's kind of not the point to me. The point was. You cannot take ranking points away so he won 3 matches," Roddick said.

Roddick then compared it to working at a car dealership from Monday to Thursday, getting fired on Friday, and having the commission for the cars sold from Monday to Thursday taken away.

"It'd be like if you worked at a car dealership and you had sold 3 cars from Monday to Thursday. You go off and tell your boss something on Friday you get fired and they take away your commissions for the 3 cars you sold Monday through Thursday," the former US Open champion said.

"That makes no sense. You can't take away money that's already been earned," he added.