Andrey Rublev successfully appealed his recent default from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, meaning he will receive his prize money and ranking points from the tournament.
Obviously nothing can be done about the outcome of the match–Rublev was defaulted at 5-6 in the third set of his semifinal against Alexander Bublik–or the overall tournament, but the fifth-ranked Russian gets to keep $157,755 and 200 ranking points.
Rublev shouted in the face of a linesman following the final point of Bublik’s service game at 5-5. What was said remains unclear, but the No. 2 seed was unhappy with a non-call on his baseline during a rally. A different Russian-speaking linesman then went to the chair umpire and offered his opinion of what had been said. After that the tournament supervisor chatted with the chair umpire and Rublev was defaulted.
In normal default circumstances on the ATP and WTA Tours, a player loses all of his or her ranking points and prize money. But that won’t be the case with Rublev since his appeal was successful. His $36,400 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct, though, still stands.
The ATP ruled that the “customary penalties associated with a default…would be disproportionate in this case…. The appeal process took into consideration testimonies from the player, officials, as well as a review of all available video and audio materials.”
Rublev now heads to the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where he is the fifth seed behind Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Daniil Medvedev.
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