Daria Kasatkina slams officials and calls for VAR over Andrey Rublev default

Andrey Rublev reacts in front a linesman during his semi final match with Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Friday, March 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

Daria Kasatkina feels her compatriot Andrey Rublev was hard done by at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Kasatkina believes that this incident shows that the game needs to make use of video replay technology.

The decision to disqualify Rublev after an exhange with a line judge has sparked much debate.

With the score at 5-5 in the third set, the Russian confronted one of the line judges and yelled at him in his native tongue for a bad call.

The decision to dismiss Rublev came soon after, during the change of ends, when two line judges approached the referee and asked the tournament supervisor what had transpired.

“So you can just disqualify a player, take away all his points and money, without even checking the video? What a joke, yet another confirmation that we need VAR in tennis and an electronic appeal system in all tournaments,” said Kasatkina.

The umpire didn’t think twice before ending the contest, one step away from a tie-break.

Bublik attempted to save his adversary by declaring his wish to continue the matcg, but the rules are explicit and make no exceptions in such cases. The Kazakh will get the opportunity to compete for the crown on Sunday.

The problem occurred during the changeover, when two line judges contacted the referee and also questioned the tournament supervisor.

The second judge was not the first person engage, however, he transmitted the so-called ‘serious things’ Rublev is alleged to have said to his colleague, prompting his instant disqualification. According to the person in question, Rublev’s insults were considered to have been quite serious.

Bublik expressed his doubt over the validity of the call.

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ATP supervisor Roland Herfel came onto the court, accompanied by a Russian speaker, who reportedly claimed that Rublev had sworn in his native language.

Rublev insists he had spoken to the umpire in English and had not used any foul language, but he was defaulted by chair umpire Miriam Bley.

“I highly doubt that Andrey said something so crazy, he is absolutely not that kind of person. I understand that they will have followed the rules, it’s really a shame that it ended like this, I would have preferred to lose 7-6 at third in this way,” Bublik said.

In situations like these we cannot remove the athlete, tennis is made for athletes and we are the ones who take to the court and play, not the others. The referees could be removed, perhaps an automatic system could be inserted for each point and the referees would not exist.”