Andrey Rublev disqualified for screaming in the face of a line judge during his semi-final against Alexander Bublik; Defending champion Daniil Medvedev beaten by Ugo Humbertwatch over 80 tournaments a year, including the US Open, exclusively live on Sky Sports Tennis
Friday 1 March 2024 19:05, UK
Andrey Rublev was sensationally defaulted after screaming in the face of a line judge during his heated semi-final clash with Alexander Bublik in Dubai on Friday.
In a chaotic match where both semi-finalists fumed at the officials, Rublev was defaulted by the chair umpire for unsportsmanlike conduct.
ATP supervisor Roland Herfel was called on the court where he spoke with the line judge before umpire Miriam Bley disqualified Rublev amid jeers from the crowd in Dubai.
It was a controversial end to a tight match, with Kazakhstan's Bublik progressing to the final 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-5.
Rublev will lose all his points and prize money from this week and will leave the top five in the world following his disqualification.
Daria Kasatkina came to the defence of Rublev on social media by calling for video technology to be introduced into the sport.
"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," she said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Top seed Daniil Medvedev also endured a disappointing outing as the world No 4 crashed to a 7-5 6-3 loss against fifth-seeded and in-form Frenchman Ugo Humbert in the other semi-final.
Humbert saved all but one of the eight break points he faced and finished with a 30-21 advantage in winners, securing him a sixth final and first since winning the Open 13 title last month in Marseille.
"I played the perfect match," Humbert said. "One of my best matches. It is never easy to play against Daniil but I was ready to play some rallies.
"With my title at the beginning of the year, I had a lot of confidence and tried to bring everything to court."
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