The linesman sworn by Andrey Rublev, at the tournament in Dubai, would be a Romanian, Răzvan Enescu from Brașov, writes ProSport. He is part of a team of 4, delegated from Romania to officiate at the competition in the United Arab Emirates.
Andrey Rublev, caught screaming at the Romanian referee. Photo Getty images
Andrey Rublev provided a shock moment in the semi-finals of the Dubai tournament during his 7-6, 6-7, 5-6 match against Kazakhstan's Bublik. He started shouting right in front of Răzvan Enescu, reproaching the Romanian for not dictating aut to a ball sent to the limit by his opponent. The Russian was disqualified after a consultation between the chair umpire and the match supervisor, even though Alexander Bublik pleaded with them to reverse the decision and continue the match.
He yelled “damn bastard”
The Kazakh thus has access to the final of the tournament with prizes worth a total of 3.11 million dollars, where he will face Ugo Humbert (France, 18 ATP), who passed another Russian, Daniil Medvedev (4 ATP) by 7-5, 6-3.
According to ProSport, four referees from Romania were delegated to the tournament in Dubai. The one who entered Andrey Rublev's mouth was Răzvan Enescu, and the Russian lost the match on the green table after shouting “damn bastard”, in the mother tongue. The Romanian reported the incident to the chair umpire and supervisor in Dubai after understanding the tennis player's swearing. The International Federation has compiled a dictionary of swear words in 13 languages, which it has made available to the referees.
The organizers went with the Romanian
The dialogue between Rublev and the supervisor of the tournament was transcribed and it actually shows that the decision of the organizers was made without watching the replays, the officials from Dubai going with the Romanian.
Supervisor: Andrey, this is a Russian speaking gentleman. He said…
Rublev: I spoke to him in English! And I asked him how he couldn't help but notice his ball going out of bounds.
The supervisor to the linesman: Can you repeat what he said?
The linesman: Ați spus “'Nenorocitul dracului!' How did you not see?”
Supervisor: This is a disqualification. That's what he says – and he knows Russian.
Rublev swore he did not shout in Russian
Rublev: I didn't speak Russian with him!
Supervisor: He claims he does. And if that's what you said, then…
Rublev: I dont say that.
The supervisor to the linesman: Can you repeat that?
Rublev: Are you serious? (in Russian) Are you serious now? I didn't even speak Russian.
The linesman: If I hadn't heard, I wouldn't have said anything.
Supervisor: No, no, no, let's calm down. He speaks Russian and knows what you said.
Rublev: But I didn't speak Russian.
Supervisor: I don't know, but this is a disqualification.
Rublev: Disqualification? I swear I don't…
The supervisor to the linesman: Did he say “fuck you”?
Accusations that he made everything up
Rublev: I didn't say “damn”. What do you mean “damn”? I didn't say such a thing! That's a huge lie! I swear I said no such thing.
Supervisor: I'll have to watch the video. But this is a disqualification.
Rublev: How can you trust…
Supervisor: He spoke in Russian.
Rublev: That's not possible. Not! You can't do that.
After the disqualification, Rublev again turned to the supervisor with a request to check the cameras: “Can you check the cameras first and then trust him? He could make anything up. Maybe on purpose.” That didn't happen, and Rublev will lose prize money, points and leave the ATP Top 5 starting Monday.
