Andrey Rublev's appeal successful for prize money, ranking points after Dubai Open disqualification

Andrey Rublev has successfully appealed to keep the prize money and ranking points he acquired in Dubai, despite being disqualified from the semi-final match against Alexander Bublik.

Rublev was disqualified in the later stages of his match against Bublik when he vociferously contested a line judge's call, asserting that the ball had landed outside the court. The line judge claimed that the Russian, ranked No.5 in the world, directed offensive language at him in Russian, an accusation Rublev refuted.

As a consequence of his disqualification, Rublev forfeited $150,000 in prize money and the 200 ranking points he had earned by advancing to the semi-finals.

However, following an appeal, Rublev has now recovered those earnings, with a statement being issued by the ATP, “The appeal process took into consideration testimonies from the player, officials, as well as a review of all available video and audio materials.

“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. As such, Rublev retains semi-final points and prize money for the tournament.”

Despite retaining the prize money and ranking points, Rublev still has to pay a fine of nearly $30,000 for the actions that led to his disqualification.

Rublev will return to action in Indian Wells later this week, where his best result came back in 2022 after reaching the semi-finals.