In light of Andrey Rublev's controversial disqualification, 4 tennis players who have endured the same fate before ft. Novak Djokovic

Andrey Rublev’s campaign at the Dubai Tennis Championships came to a controversial end after he was defaulted from his semifinal contest for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The Russian was trailing 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 5-6* when a line call resulted in him having an outburst targeting the line umpire, who later claimed that Rublev shouted profanities at him.

Rublev was defaulted by the match referee for his conduct, despite his protests. While the jury is still out on the decision, let us look back at other such instances in recent memory:

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#1 Novak Djokvic at 2020 US Open

Novak Djokovic and a linesperson at the 2020 US Open.

Novak Djokovic was gunning for a fourth US Open crown when his campaign was cut short by a controversial default decision on the part of the organizers.

The Serb was disqualified from his fourth-round match against Pablo Carreño Busta while trailing 5-6 in the opening set. After dropping serve to fall behind 5-6 in the first set, Djokovic hit a ball towards the baseline in frustration. The ball accidentally hit a line judge in the throat, prompting strict action.

The decision, which had fans divided for a long time, ended Djokovic’s unbeaten 26-0 record of 2020, as well as his 29-match win streak that went back to the 2019 Davis Cup.

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#2 Miyu Kato at the 2023 French Open

Miyu Kato with the 2023 French Open mixed doubles trophy.

Miyu Kato found herself at the center of a storm when she and partner Aldila Sutjiadi defaulted from their women’s doubles third-round encounter after a ball that came off her racket hit a ball girl.

Kato and Sutjiadi’s opponents Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova protested against the act, which resulted in the chair umpire disqualifying Kato.

Fans, however, came out to support Kato on social media in large numbers, with most pointing out that Kato’s ball hitting the kid was completely inadvertent. The Japanese player received a standing ovation as she stepped out on the court for her mixed doubles later in the week.

Kato went on to win the mixed doubles with Tim Putz. She even met the ball girl later in the week and shared a tennis kit with her.

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#3 Marc Polmans at 2023 Shanghai Masters

Marc Polmans

Marc Polmans was defaulted from his 2023 Shanghai Masters qualification round match against Stefano Napolitano. The decision came after a ball that came off his racket hit the chair umpire in the face.

Polmans was ranked outside the top 100 at the time of the incident, which took place when he was leading his opponent by a set and 6-5 in the second-set tiebreaker.

On his second match point, the Aussie put the ball in the net, which infuriated him and caused him to whack it away. Ben Anderson, who was the chair umpire, was the target of the strike, which resulted in Polmans' disqualification.

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#4 Denis Shapovalov at 2017 Davis Cup

Denis Shapovalov

Like Marc Polmans, Denis Shapovalov is another player who has faced disqualification from a contest after hitting the chair umpire — Arnaud Gabas on this occasion.

The incident came on a big stage, during the Davis Cup tie between Canada and Great Britain that was being played in front of a boisterous Ottawa crowd. Shapovalov, then 17, hit a ball in anger after dropping serve to go down 6-3 6-4 2-1 against Kyle Edmund.

The ball hit Gabas in the face, drawing an instant reaction from Shapovalov. While he was quick to apologize for his actions, the youngster faced disqualification and Canada lost the tie in the process.