"We take the umpire out, we cannot take off Andrey Rublev" - Alexander Bublik decries Russian's default during Dubai SF for yelling at line judge

Alexander Bublik has suggested that tennis would be better if line judges were replaced with electronic line-calling systems after Andrey Rublev, his opponent in the Dubai Tennis Championships semifinal, was defaulted for yelling at an official.

Alexander Bublik and Andrey Rublev produced tennis of the highest quality on Friday, March 1, with eyes on a spot in the final in Dubai. While Rublev won the opening set in a tiebreak, the other followed suit and took the second in a tiebreak to level things up.

The two were inseparable in the deciding set as they exchanged breaks to stay on set until Andrey Rublev got upset with a line judge over a call on the game point in the 11th game. He confronted the linesman angrily and uttered a few words in Russian.

At this, another line judge, who claimed to know Russian, told the chair umpire that Rublev had sworn at his colleague's face. The chair umpire called the supervisor for a word and eventually the accused received a default, giving Bublik a relatively easy pass to the final.

The Kazakhstani, however, decried the decision suggesting players mean more to tennis than the officials do.

"If we take the umpire out, we cannot take off Andrey. That is the thing. We cannot take off players. Players will be there. It's tennis because of the players, because we are playing this sport, not the opposite way around. We can take any umpire away and that would solve many issues," Alexander Bublik said. (as quoted by Barron's citing AFP)

He added:

"We have this proof every week that when the tournament is with electronic line-calling, we don't have these troubles. Players are not getting crazy."

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Alexander Bublik: "Is it fault of Andrey Rublev? Maybe. Is it fault of the umpire? Maybe"

Andrey Rublev confronts the linesman.

Furthermore, Alexander Bublik expressed uncertainty over deciding who between Andrey Rublev and the linesman was at fault on Friday. He claimed players carry more passion on the tennis court than anyone else, saying:

"It's our passion. We play for this. We live for this. We grew up dreaming to be playing these stadiums."

"Then some guy who is working for three years as a line judge, staying there deciding something. Then you come up to the situation like this. Is it fault of Andrey? Maybe. Is it fault of the umpire? Maybe."

In the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships, Bublik will clash with Ugo Humbert on Saturday. Humbert, in his semifinal, downed top seed Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 6-3. It will notably be Bublik's first-ever meeting with Humbert.