"If we take the umpire out, we cannot take off Andrey": Alexander Bublik suggests tennis would be better with electronic line judges after Rublev drama"
ATP
Alexander Bublik is through to the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships against Ugo Humbert which will be played later this evening. But his semi-final against Andrey Rublev was marred by the Russian being defaulted.
Rublev screamed in the face of a line judge and was immediately defaulted which saw mixed opinions and in the viewpoint of Bublik, he sees it as a marker of a wider issue. He says that the players are vital to the sport and line judges/umpires aren't and taking them away from solve a lot of issues. At some tournaments, there are no line judges, but this is not at a small level which is where this incident took place.
"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 per AFP.
"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."
"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."
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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