Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan reached the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final after his semifinal opponent Andrey Rublev was defaulted by match officials for poor conduct.
The dramatic match was tantalisingly poised in the third set at 6-5 when Rublev was punished for shouting at a line official.
The ill-tampered match, which eventually ended in favour of Bublik 6-7 (4/7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-5, saw several fiery moments with both players having a go at the German chair umpire Miriam Bley.
In between some astounding tennis, the two players often looked frustrated by some of the calls made by the German official.
But those moments failed to deter the players as they kept hitting some amazing shots to punish each other.
In the end, Rublev was punished in the most dramatic of fashions for losing the plot after he screamed at a line official over a call.
The world number five was bidding to reach his third straight final in Dubai, having won the tournament in 2022 and finished runner-up to Daniil Medvedev last year.
In Saturday’s final, Bublik will take on the winner of the second semifinal between defending champion Medvedev and Ugo Humbert of France.