"They've taken Andrey Rublev's voice away": Jimmy Connors weighs in on disqualification prior to Dubai points u-turn"

ATP
Tuesday, 05 March 2024 at 03:30
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Former world number one Jimmy Connors has lambasted officials for disqualifying Russia’s Andrey Rublev in the semifinal of the ATP event in Dubai.
The 26-year-old was disqualified from the semifinal of the Dubai Duty-Free Championship against Alexander Bublik after allegedly using harsh words towards one of the line umpires. The move comes at an interesting time as the third set was nicely poised at 6-5.
Connors, who is an eight-time Grand Slam winner, was recently quoted in a report criticised the decision and stating that such a move would take Rublev’s voice away and that it is not okay to make such drastic decisions without giving a warning.
"[To] default them, you know, not give them a warning, not give them a point penalty, but just saying, 'You're done',” he said. “I'm passionate about this, only because they've taken away the voice of a player.
"They've totally taken his voice away, you know, to where he has to go and conform to whatever has been thrown at him. You know, 'the ball was out', I can't question it... you can't question that, you just gotta go along with that."
Rublev will now be hoping to return to winning ways when he will play in the upcoming Indian Wells. The ATP 1000 event will begin on March 06.

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