“Every ATP Tour (and) WTA tournament should be mandatory now to have electronic line calling, and for incidentals,” wrote Coco Gauff‘s ex-coach Brad Gilbert on X after ugly scenes marred the end of Andrey Rublev‘s Dubai Open campaign last year. The controversial incident not only shocked players but also sparked an intense online debate among fans, questioning why the Dubai tournament – an ATP 500 event – wasn’t using a VAR-style video review system to prevent the occurrence of such incidents. Thankfully, their pleas have been heard.

The latest updates show us that the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships is slated to add an electronic line calling system starting this year. The tournament director of the Middle East event, Salah Tahlak, confirmed that the technology will be introduced to avoid having “any problems like last year.” For those unaware, Rublev’s incident in Dubai undoubtedly left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.

Rublev was sensationally defaulted from his semifinal match against Alexander Bulbik after allegedly swearing at a line judge. The combustible Russian was trailing 6-5 in the third set against Bulbik when frustrations boiled to the summit and he directed his anger on a line judge. A Russian-speaking later alerted ATP supervisor Roland Herfel that the 27-year-old had yelled an obscenity in his native language (Russian) – an accusation Rublev emphatically denied.

Not only that, the Russian sensation claimed that he wasn’t even speaking in Russian when the incident occurred. “I didn’t say ‘fucker’. I swear to God. This is huge. I swear to God,” said Rublev. Despite his pleas, the officials denied him to continue play and defaulted him for “verbal abuse”, thus sending Bulbik into the title decider. This instantly brought up a familiar debate – why doesn’t professional tennis rely on a video review system?

Even his opponent, Bulbik, sympathised with the Russian player and, in a post-match presser, highlighted why the pressing issue needs immediate attention from the ATP. “We have this proof every week that when the tournament is with electronic line calling, we don’t have these troubles.” Several high-profile players, including world No. 24 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, labeled the incident as “unfair.” “Very unfair that they disqualify Rublev without first ensuring that what the line judge understood is correct. That rule should be reviewed and changed. Shameful. We need VAR in tennis,” Fokina wrote on X.

Hawk-eye Live, the sports’ main live electronic line calling system, was first introduced at the ATP Next Gen Finals in 2018 but it wasn’t until 2020 that tour-level events welcomed the technology and even then, not every tournament used it. However, this concern won’t pose an issue in Dubai this year.

As for Rublev, the World No. 10 later spoke out on his default and appeal following the controversial end to his week in Dubai.

Andrey Rublev vowed to ‘learn from’ his Dubai Open “verbal abuse” default

Russian superstar Andrey Rublev, given his controversial Dubai Open default, took to his social media to thank fans for their support and vowed to learn from the incident and, hopefully, “try to be a better player and better person”. He even pleaded with the ATP to take a closer look at the issue and institute a video review system to avoid ‘uncalled’ defaults for players. Though he was later fined $36,400 for breaching the code, the good news was that the World No. 10 was permitted to keep the ranking points and the prize money he earned in Dubai.

He wrote in a statement posted on his social media handles: “I want to thank the appeal committee for approving my appeal and changing course on the ATP’s initial decision of disqualifying me from the Dubai semifinal and taking away the ranking points and prize money I earned last week.”

“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 video review,” Rublev added. For those unaware, Section VIII (“The Code”) of the ATP’s Official Rulebook in question, defines “verbal abuse” as “any statement about an official, opponent, sponsor, spectator or any other person that implies dishonesty or is derogatory, insulting or otherwise abusive.”

However, Rublev has decided not to feature in Dubai this season. Instead, the Russian star has jetted for the Qatar Open, where is ironically slated to lock horns with Bublik once again. His Round of 16 matches with the Kazakh player will kick off on Monday, February 17.