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Rublev calls for rule change after successful appeal against disqualification

Andrey Rublev said he wants the ATP to "take a closer look" at the rules regarding disqualification after his prize money and ranking points from the tournament in Dubai were restored.

On Monday, the ATP announced that Rublev would not lose his earnings and ranking points from reaching the Dubai semi-finals last month.

He was kicked out of the tournament for abusing a line judge during his last-four match against Alexander Bublik, with another line judge accusing Rublev of swearing at his colleague in Russian.

Rublev insisted he was speaking in English and that he did not use any foul language but he was defaulted.

However, an appeal resulted in the ATP downgrading his punishment.

"The appeals committee concluded that, beyond forfeiting the match, customary penalties associated with a default -– namely loss of rankings points and prize money for the entire tournament -– would be disproportionate in this case," the ATP said in a statement.

Rublev said he wanted the rules to be changed.

"I hope that in the future, the ATP will take a closer look at this rule and make changes to it, so that an official can't force a match outcome without having clear evidence and not letting the player have a video review," he said in a post on X.

Keeping his ranking points ensured Rublev would stay in the top five in the ATP rankings ahead of world number six Alexander Zverev.
Source: AFP