Russian tennis player Andrei Rublev, due to his inability to control emotions on the court, has repeatedly lost the most important matches. Our athlete’s next prank cost him a huge sum and caused Spanish shame among the fans. Rublev threw a tantrum after the controversial action of the referee.

The audience has never seen Andrey like this.

Non-standard tennis

The rules of Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) tournaments are completely different from standard tennis. The only familiar things here are markings and a grid; otherwise, this is a completely different discipline. The game consists of four segments lasting 8 minutes. To win you need to win three quarters. In case of a tie, a non-standard tiebreaker is played, in which it is enough to win two draws in a row. For each successful rally, athletes receive one point, and a quarter is taken by the one who scores more points after 8 minutes.

The main highlight of UTS is the bonus cards. A tennis player has the right to activate this option once per quarter, and then a victory in the next draw will bring him three points.

Ultimate Tennis Showdown tournament / Photo: © Gaspafotos / MB Media / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

“I should have reacted differently.”

The UTS Grand Final concluded yesterday in London. Andrey Rublev was considered the main favorite. He won all three matches in the group stage and reached the semi-finals at Holger Rune. By remaining undefeated, the Russian still had a chance for an additional bonus from the organizers. If he managed to win all the games of the tournament, he would receive $250 thousand (22.6 million rubles) from the organizers.

One of the rules of the tournament states that athletes begin matches without warming up. This did not benefit the Russian athlete in the semi-final match. In the first quarter, he made too many mistakes, which is why he lost with a score of 10:20.

In the second period, Andrei improved a little, but the Dane still looked better in most rallies. Only towards the end of the quarter did the Russian force the Dane to fight. With the score 9:11, Rublev took the bonus card and won the draw. But instead of three points, he received only one – the judge simply did not see the Russian player’s request.

Our tennis player noticed this only when the score was 11:11. This circumstance infuriated Rublev. He had an emotional showdown with the chair umpire, the supervisor who appeared on the court, and even his coach, but failed to change the result. As a sign of protest, Andrei refused to finish the quarter until the end when the score was 11:12.

In the third segment, emotions finally overwhelmed our tennis player. He deliberately lost some rallies, and coach Galo Blanco had to literally beg Rublev to continue playing. But Andrei was uncontrollable in emotional outbursts. When the score was 11:11, he climbed onto the judge’s tower and began poking him in the face with three fingers. This is how he showed that he wanted to take a bonus card.

Andrey Rublev / Photo: © Gaspafotos / MB Media / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

This behavior of the Russian caused discomfort to the referee. He tried to move his hand away from his face, but Rublev was persistent. At an official competition, Andrei would have been disqualified and given a huge fine, but in the show tournament format, players are not prohibited from showing emotions.

After the match, Andrei calmed down and explained his behavior.

“The moment was very emotional, and, of course, I should have reacted differently. I was a little disappointed because I was chasing every point and playing long rallies. A very intense match, the heart rate was high, and then this situation happens. All the work ended up costing nothing. My reaction was unacceptable, I understand. But what happened, happened,” said Rublev.

Emotions prevented Andrey from saving the meeting. He lost in the bonus card draw, and then lost two more in a row. This was enough for the Dane to put an end to the match. Rune reached the finals, where he was weaker than local tennis player Jack Draper.