Ridiculous to not have electronic court”: Coco Gauff’s coach Brad Gilbert revisits her dispute with umpire as he weighs in on Andrey Rublev’s default
Coco Gauff’s coach, Brad Gilbert, has weighed in on Andrey Rublev’s default controversy at the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships.
Rublev took on Alexander Bublik in a closely contested semifinal clash at the ATP 500 event, with both players claiming a set apiece. During a tense deciding set, a crucial call went Bublik’s way at 5-5, 40-30 on the Kazakh’s serve.
Rublev, who was convinced that the call was incorrect, confronted the line umpire and unleashed a verbal outburst directly in his face. After an official reported that the 26-year-old had used an expletive in Russian, the tournament supervisor immediately disqualified him from the tournament for unsportsmanlike conduct, despite the World No. 5’s claim that he hadn’t used any profanity and was speaking in English.
Brad Gilbert shared his thoughts on the controversy, stating that while he didn’t condone Andrey Rublev’s behavior, the lack of electronic line calling was “absolutely ridiculous,” given that it had caused issues during the WTA 1000 event in Dubai as well, particularly during Coco Gauff’s third round match.
“For the record i don’t condone what Rubles did to linesperson, even if didn’t swear at, that becomes judgement call 📞 for umpire that’s 50-50 default, my beef 🥩 absolutely 💯 ridiculous to not have electronic court in Dubai same issue with women’s week before,” he posted on X (formerly Twitter).
