Watch: World No. 5 disqualified from tournament semifinals after berating line judge

It was an obscure ending for Bublik and he made it clear afterwards that he was hoping for play to continue. It was an even more brutal finish for Rublev, who was not only in the decisive set against his opponent, but battling to a 6-5 count.

The final result in Bublik's favor was 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-5.

ATP supervisor Roland Herfel approached Rublev with a Russian speaker following the incident, who said that the 26-year-old swore at the official in his native language.

According to an Associated Press, ESPN and Reuters report, Rublev responded "I was talking to him in English."

Per the report, umpire Miriam Bley disqualified the tournament's No. 2 seed and Bublik (the No. 7 seed) said "I'm ok to continue."

"I highly doubt Andrey said something crazy," Bublik said, according to the report. "He's not this kind of guy. But I guess that's the rules. That's what they did, they just follow the procedure."

"There's not much to say. With all due respect, it was a great match and both of us deserved to win," the 26-year-old Kazakhstani added. "The crowd was there and we could have played one of the greatest matches against each other. It's a pity it ended like this."

Due to the default, the Australian Open quarterfinalist will lose his prize money and ranking points that he earned at the Dubai event.

The report added that despite the win, Bublik was also penalized during the competition for an "outburst."

"Having drawn level after a tense second set, Bublik smashed his racket and received a code violation for swearing after he was broken at the start of the third set and shouted at the umpire," the report said.

Rublev won the crown at the Dubai Championships in 2022, a run which included a viral video where he wrote "No War Please" on the camera moments after wrapping up his semifinals win. This came days after Russian troops began their attack on Ukraine, beginning a war that is still going on over two years later.