Russia’s Andrey Rublev was on Saturday fined $3,000 for using some expletives during the match against Coleman Wong in the US Open. But here’s the catch: The player was fined not for cursing at his opponent, umpire or anyone else. He was fined because he was admonishing himself during the match and when he was fined for that, the player was absolutely flabbergasted, saying that you can’t be penalized for talking to yourself.
“When you are talking to yourself in a bad way, it’s my decision how I do it. In my opinion, you cannot charge for this. If you talk to the referee or umpire with the bad words, yes. When you do it to someone or you screaming on all courts, yes, obviously. But when you talk to yourself, it’s your decision how you talk. Doesn’t matter even if umpire hear what you’re saying or not,” Rublev said in the post-match press conference.
‘It’s your decision how you talk’
“For this, I don’t think so. It should be something like a big punishment or something like that. Because in the end of the day, in all the sports, it’s normal. I mean, it doesn’t matter which sports you take, in the crucial moments it happens. It’s sport, it’s life. The same with every person outside in the life, in the crucial moments, stressful moments, I don’t believe that all of us are super holy and we never say bad words in the crucial moments. It’s the same thing. We are performing or we’re distressed and sometimes it happens. Like I said, if you do it towards someone or you’re doing it too much openly, yes, but with yourself, it’s your decision how you talk,” he added.
Andrey Rublev on receiving $3,000 fine for audible obscenity at the U.S Open:
“I don’t believe that all of us are super holy and we never say bad words in the crucial moments.”
“It’s the same thing. We are performing or we’re distressed and sometimes it happens. Like I said,… pic.twitter.com/TJRme0lwaq
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 31, 2025
This was the latest incident when a player has been penalized for their on-court antics with Rublev’s country mate Daniil Medvedev getting fined half his prize money after his meltdown against Benjamin Bonzi earlier in the week.
Unlike Medvedev who lost the match, however, Rublev got the better of Wong, defeating him 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
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